five new things that just aren’t the same

One: MP3s vs Vinyl

There is something great about the experience of listening to a piece of vinyl spinning around on a turntable. Even the large cardboard album cover of a LP was asthetic. Listening to compressed mp3s on an ipod doesn’t produce the same warm sound or experience.

Two: Cards vs Cash

I believe that one of the main reasons that we, as a society, are so indebted is that we mainly use cards instead of cash. Cash has the effect of feeling very real. I don’t get this much nowadays because I mainly transact electronically. The different between one grand and ten grand in my bank is a single digit on the ‘puter screen, the difference between one grand cash and ten grand cash is very real. I understand that cards are much more safe, but are they? With all the phishing, scamming, swiping, frauding and the like, maybe we should all just use plain old cash. I reckon they should make people pay for houses in cash too, it would quickly stop people overpaying for housing. Handing over 500K in cash would feel very serious and real, even if it wasn’t all yours.

Three: Digital Photography vs Analog Lomography

There’s something amazing about Lomo. I haven’t seen a digital camera that captures the same warmth. Digital cameras are all just bits, bytes and pixels.

Four: Modern Architecture vs Gargoyles

I often walk around looking at buildings in cities, and most of the time I like the old ones much better than the new ones. The old ones were often made of stone, and were handcrafted and ascetically pleasing. The new ones are mostly built hastily to maximize investor profit. There’s an old building near my work that has gargoyled cats… Why don’t they put gargoyled cats on buildings anymore?

Five: VHS vs Internet Video

I enjoy watching music video clips. I used to have a collection that I recorded off Rage onto VHS. Sometimes I relive those days and watch them on the Internet (YouTube), but the quality sucks. Why was my 1980′s VHS better quality than YouTube? Why is YouTube all pixelated and splotchy? It is 2008.