And it’s all I can do to answer the letters I get and to answer the phone answering machine. Why would I want things to get even faster?
Jonathan Richman uses no digital tech, at all.
@jack That's an inspiring story and interview! (If interview is what it was). But I thought: Richman has a certain degree of celebrity: he can pay an agent and assistant to handle bookings etc. Most of us can't. Reminds me of Bill Murray, who can only be reached by an unlisted phone number, which takes you to an answering machine. But again, celebrity. Still, I found it challenging and inspiring. A good thought experiment: imagine telling all your friends that they could only reach you by writing. How many would do it? ever? I don't recommend it, but it makes me think about what my real, real network is.
@JMaxB There's certainly a bit of privilege involved making it possible, sure, but that doesn't make the story less interesting. And yeah, I'm certain that if I insisted on hand-written communication only, correspondence would drop from "a handfull" to "zero" immediately. :)
@jack That’s such an attractive idea. Sort-of how I’m thinking with regard to my planned future with tech. The laptop will exist only for any sort of work, should it be required, and the aforementioned blog posts.
@jack The story for me is that we must all discover our own path, what works for us, and now I see it can change as we age. I'm about to experiment with more paper notebooks, because the computer path seems to be one of greater complexity & I'm not sure that will work for me as I age. In ham radio, I still prefer Morse code, the simplest and first mode I learned. There are very advanced digital modes in radio that the young'uns are drawn to. I have not tried a single one yet, though I did buy a radio for one. I'm not drawn to any exclusive dogma, like no digital, no meat, Porsche only, or no FB, or CW Only. I will explore what works for me at any given time. Like the musician, I love books too and have never fallen in love with ebooks, but I did buy a Kindle once, but only once. It's just not my thing, though I did read one terrific ebook just a few days ago! Maybe Ben Franklin was on to something with moderation. 📻
@Ron While I've always wanted to be someone who does just that one thing forever (all analog, no social media, whatever) it just doesn't suit my personality. Like you, I've been drawn to paper lately. More so than even when it was new experimentation. Paper makes me feel calm, and I am learning to like calm.