Leslie Karst

An Analog Gal

I’m a Baby Boomer, I admit it. Born in 1956 with two older brothers to influence me, I fall squarely within the generation of Captain Kangaroo, Hula Hoops and Slinkies, Sputnik, the Sears Catalogue, JFK, Scholastic Book Fairs, and long-play record albums (aka LPs).

my childhood lunchbox

The digital age arrived when I was in my late twenties—I was 28 when Apple released its first desktop computer. So although I’ve learned to speak the computer/cyber/digital language relatively well, I’m by no means completely fluent. I bet I only use about 2% of my smart phone’s capacity (and yes, aside from taking photos, I use it mostly as an actual phone).

Which brings me to today’s blog post.

I grew up being able to eyeball where track 3 was on an LP and drop the needle precisely onto that spot.

Robin and I celebrating our 33 1/3 anniversary some years back

Similarly, I’m used to flipping back twenty pages in an actual hard copy book to remind myself, who exactly is Eleanor, again? Or holding my thumb in the end notes, for easy and immediate access when needed.

The problem is, you can do these things with digital media. Yes, you can click on a CD player to get it to move to track 3, but what if you want to go to the middle of that track to play a ripping guitar solo for your friend who’s hanging out with you in your bedroom after school? And now that most music is on platforms such as Spotify and Pandora, you don’t even get to listen to the full albums as they were meant to be heard.

Similarly, if you want to flip back in an eBook to re-read something, it’s much more laborious to get to where you want to go. Plus, you don’t get to touch and smell the actual paper. Which may be the most important difference of all.

Okay, call my a cranky old Boomer, if you will. But I’ll take an LP—where you can read all the copious liner notes and gaze at the band photos as you listen to the music—over iTunes any day. And I’ve yet to purchase an eReader: I buy all my books as hard copies and relish holding those real printed pages in my hands.

Readers: Do you prefer digital music or old-school LPs? How about eBooks vs. hard copies? And do you think I’m a cranky old Boomer?

51 thoughts on “An Analog Gal”

  2. Born in 1965, I’m an old X-er. I adore my CD collection above all else. While I love vinyl, and the ability to drop the needle where I want, for me the CD sound quality lasts longer than with vinyl. And a shout out to cassettes, which were functional for in the car and making mixed tapes!

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  3. Boomer here as well. Honestly when it comes to music, I’m eclectic having lived through LPs, cassettes, CDs, and now streaming and I think all have benefits and drawbacks. As to books, I will always love the real thing best, they have my heart! Sadly, I have reached the point where ebooks have become my primary reading source. They are easier my aging crummy eyes and I can leave town and not worry about how many books to carry. I still buy most of my favorites in hard cover or trade paper and I love the convenience of being able to easily flip back and forth as needed in physical books. And no, Leslie, I do not see you as cranky, maybe just rightly opinionated!

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      1. We had about 3 8-tracks to play in our car, between me and my parents. Mine was the Beach Boys’ Endless Summer.

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      2. OMG! How could I forget 8-tracks? I had one in my car and yes, I still have a VCR in my family room.
        Lisa, 8-tracks were my R&B Detroit sound era! Endless Summer spanned them all!

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  4. LOL, Leslie, nope, you’re not a cranky old Boomer, just nostalgic. I’m considered a Boomer having been born in 1961 (but recently heard I might be a “Jones” generation… whatever that means). However, whenever new technology marvels hit the market, I wholeheartedly embraced. One of the best things are e-readers since I can travel with thousands of books without my husband complaining my suitcase was too heavy to pick up. However, now that AI is invading every aspect of our lives, I’m definitely not on board and believe it should be heavily regulated.

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  5. GenX here. My CD collection was enormous thanks to the “record of the month” club. Loved the portable CD player I had. LPs are fine, but you can’t travel with them.

    Nowadays, it’s mostly streaming. Yes, I still have the CDs and I can play them off my DVD player. But no modern car comes with a CD player and you can’t beat queing up a playlist that will last for the entire multi-hour drive without fumbling for a new CD (if you’re on your own) or searching for a radio station you can tolerate (and doesn’t kill you with commercials).

    At home I read physical books, but if I’m traveling I prefer my iPad because I don’t have to tote along 10 books (to make sure I don’t run out of anything to read).

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    1. How I wish cars still came with CD players, Liz! Though I actually do enjoy finding local radio stations when on a road trip. Nothing like that Mariachi music driving down the Central Valley of California!

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  6. First off, you’re definitely not cranky, Leslie! As for music, I’m still Team Radio, but I’ll listen to music in any format. (And my younger kiddo is actually getting into LPs now–just thrifted a Charlie Byrd one.) Books, I also have different formats, but lean slightly towards e-books for travel, font selections, and so my bookcase won’t collapse.

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  7. I generally subscribe to the title of the essay in a book I stole from my middle school library: “Forward Ever, Backward Never.” (Except for AI, which I despise.) Much as I don’t love my Kindle Fire, I find I lean into it much more than physical copies these days. I know why for travel, not sure why at home. When it comes to music, well, I have the taste of a thirteen-year-old, as one of the women in my dance class said. Since music is what I dance to, I’m not particular about how it’s delivered. Mostly, I listen on the car radio. I do love show tunes. But for some reason, I never play music at home. Jer does sometimes – usually the albums he still owns.

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  8. Leslie, you don’t strike me as cranky, ever. As for age, we were born the same year so I think we’re coming into our prime! Personally, we have tons of CDs because my husband still buys them! (And he listens to them in his car which, at 18 years old, still has a multi-CD player.) I agree with all that you said about LPs and listening to the entire album/CD in one play rather than just getting the one big hit that’s always chosen by the radio station or Spotify to play.
    I read 90% of the time on my iPad, rather than “actual” books. It’s just so easy. And I seem to have lost the talent for knowing “it was on the left-hand page, about halfway up” when searching back for something when I do read a physical book. It’s so easy to search on an ereader for Eleanor’s first appearance.

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    1. Ha! Love the part about knowing it was on the left-hand page about halfway up reference–that is so true for me, and one of the reasons I prefer real books, I’m sure! I’m jealous of your husband’s car CD player.

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  9. Quick technical question: my comment above is credited to delightfully and a bunch of letters/numbers. At least that’s what I’m seeing. I logged in with my name (Pat Sellers). Do the rest of you see delightfully or Pat?

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    1. No, your name doesn’t show up on the comment (though I, as an administrator of the site, I can see your name on your email). So I guess in the future you might want to sign your comments.

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      1. I’m pleased I got the handle Delightfully instead of say, cranky Boomer! (Btw, I just learned about Gen Jones last week and think that’s where I belong.) — Pat Sellers

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  11. I’m one of those micro generation Xennials: grew up analog (e.g. learned to type on a typewriter; used a black rotary phone that easily could have been a weapon…), but quickly pivoted to the internet in high school. While I do a lot digitally, I write all of my stories/novels by hand in notebooks. The so-called convenience of technology can’t replace the tactile sensation of a pen scratching along the page.

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    1. So true, Shelly! I’ve read that we use a completely different part of the brain when we write by hand (something different about the hand-eye coordination, too). I often switch back and forth, from digital to paper. Have to admit, it’s hard to read my own handwriting sometimes…But I’m always up for a shiny new writing notebook!

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  12. Fun post!

    I too am a boomer, and I have to say, I’m embracing cranky! I think after working in the public sector for 35 years where ALWAYS being nice to people was a job requirement, in retirement, I’m finding I have significantly fewer f’s to give.

    That said, as much as I love a paper book, I do like love my kindle. Being able to read in bed in the dark takes me back to reading under the covers with a flashlight, but so much more convenient!

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  13. I was thinking about LPs and returning the needle to the start of a particular song just the other day. Ha! I think I have a foot in both worlds. I don’t subscribe to any streaming music services. I tried one but didn’t like it. I do prefer print books because I spend so much time with my computer, but I’m slowly getting into ebooks.

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  14. Gen X here. I much prefer CDs. I also love having my music in digital form on my computer and phone, but I prefer to buy my music on CD rather than digitally. Long the notes the lyrics you usually get when you do that.

    I try to be about half and half with my reading – digital and physical. I see the advantage of both. Of course, I haven’t bought an ereader. I’m too cheap for that. I use the Kindle app on my phone. And the ebooks must be cheap for me to buy them that way.

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  16. I was born in 1948 and grew up listening to the Big Bands and Satchmo due to my father’s influence. When he died, he had a Quadrophonic sound system and over 1200 LPS of all kinds and 78s. I did not keep his as they had to be transported 1148+ miles from way way South Texas to Georgia in a U-Haul and the heat would not have done them any good. So, I sold the 78s to a neighbor with a 78 jukebox and the LPS to a record dealer in San Antonio. I already had a couple of hundred o my own LPs, plus 78s and 45s. Still have my record player and phono equipment from the 1970s along with my cassette players and CD multi changer player and boom boxes abound. I have all of my cassettes. I have my father’s 8 track players and 8 tracks. My 1993 300ZX has a cassette player with an insert so I can play CDs on a portable player. We still have several VHS players along with DVD players. We also still have a landline with various older phones available from WE 302s, princess phones, Ericafons, etc. I would rather have a book and do–hundreds. I do have a Kindle for traveling and reading novellas that only came out as a eBook. We used to spend 2 months in the Florida Keys, and I would mail a box of books down and back every year. I finally quit that and used the Kindle because I could buy more books with what those cost me over 13 years. I love your photo with the LPs and CDs in the background. But I do keep up with the new technology. I used to have large CPUs and a daisy wheel printer and taught Computer Science to 7th graders back in the 1970s on a Commodore Pet. Now, we have laptops and Alexa spying on us also but still have cable though we have Amazon streaming that we rarely use along with two tube TVs and 5 Smart flat screen TVs.

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  17. I got too long again. Love the lunch box and thermos and that you have them. I also still wear an analog self-winding Tissot wristwatch.

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  18. Raising my Baby Boomer hand!

    Leslie – I immediately recognized your Roy Roger and Dale Evans lunchbox set. A true classic! Same for your great album collection. Meet the Beatles and Peter, Paul and Mary were my favorites. Have you thought about getting your collections valued on Antique Roadshow if one pops up by you?

    As for books, I’m on the “like to hold the physical book” team. Though I’ll reluctantly use the Kindle when that’s the only option. But how do you sign an eBook for a reader is my question as a new author?

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    1. I used to do Authorgraph for people who wanted e-signatures, but it doesn’t really attach directly to an e-book. And I found that people who asked for signatures usually had paper copies anyway.

      You can also sign the e-reader cover, but it’s also not quite the same…

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      1. Thanks, Jen. I wasn’t aware of Authorgraph. Will check it out.

        It just hit me that in person, I can always give them a personalized signed bookmark that they can keep in their bookmark collection. Not the same as a signed physical copy, but it would give the reader a bit of physical, personal connection. I always carry a small number of signed bookmarks with me no matter where I go. I’ve learned you never know when you’ll meet a newcomer who wants to know more about you and your book.

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    2. So true about how do you sign an eBook? (Though I have had readers ask me to sign their eReader, lol.) We have over 2,000 LPs in our collection, so they’re probably worth quite a bit, but I’d never sell them, so don’t much care.

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      1. We watch a lot of Antique roadshows at my house. So it’s second nature to wonder about the value of all our…er…treasures (my husband’s view) stashed in our basement. But I agree with you- your LP collection is priceless! Enjoy!!!!

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  19. You are not cranky, lovely Leslie! And I miss mix tapes (digital playlists seem like they should be able to duplicate that, but there was just something about someone handing you a tape they made–with the songs written out in their handwriting and maybe a drawing or two–that was deep).

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  20. What day in ’56, Leslie? I missed Leap Day by 3 hours (after having a child myself I now understand why Mom couldn’t wait so I’d be a Leap baby…).

    I, too, prefer physical to e-books and listen to the radio (tabletop in the kitchen or in the car) or CDs (our remaining LPs are stored inaccessibly). In a pinch, I’ve been known to read an e-book or listen to one of the ’70s stations on Jango, but those are the exceptions.

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  21. I agree with you Leslie – born in 1953 we just recently gave up our records – to our nephew who is a DJ and was thrilled to get them. But I could open a book store or a library with the amount of books I have – holding a book in my hands is comfort!

    Peace KIM

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  22. No way that you’re a cranky old boomer! You just have a keen appreciation for the analog experience! I’m somewhere in between — I love tech but am also currently at my grandparents’ ranch going through my dad’s paper files and journals — all made so much more special because they’re on paper. I would not be swooning over copious computer files!

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