Has anyone gone more analogue and loved it?

Further to my post at 10:24, the more I think about it the more I realise that ownership is a key preference for us. Take TV programmes that you really like. If they are available to stream then that is great as long as you have a subscription to that service and the providers continue to have it in their catalogue. What happens when it disappears because they don't want to offer it anymore? Or it is shown on a service you don't have a subscription to and who can afford to subscribe to all of them, or even want to if 90% of what they show does not appeal to you.

We really like Slow Horses. DH has read all the books so was always going to want to watch it. If it was available on DVD we would have bought all series of it like a shot. But it wasn't so we eventually took out a subscription to AppleTV. We caught up on Slow Horses within a month and had a look to see what else Apple had to offer. Not impressed so we cancelled the subscription. Now the latest series is all available so we will be subscribing again to watch that, but will almost certainly cancel it again once we have watched it. Are you telling me that is less faff than just buying it on DVD? And at least if we owned it we could watch it again if we felt like it and it would never be likely to disappear.

From my point of view, I don’t necessarily think it’s better to watch a film on a DVD instead of Netflix, but there are several reasons why I prefer to still use my DVD/VHS recorder. None of our TVs are particularly new so we couldn’t use Netflix on most of them and I very much doubt that I would appreciate any difference in quality - I certainly don’t notice if I’m watching something on a friend’s new smart TV. I don’t want to take out a subscription to Netflix or any other platform when I’ve got a ready supply of DVDs that I can watch, and when I can buy loads more for next to nothing in charity shops. But when I’ve tried in the past to find programmes I want to watch online, admittedly some of them have been quite obscure, they haven’t been available, whereas I’ve been able to track down the DVD. It’s also nice to be able to watch my own recordings that I made onto DVDs and VHS tapes many years ago, and I’ve got recordings of some fairly obscure concerts which I’m quite sure I would never find on line.

I love having hundreds of records, cassettes, CDs, and DVDs that I can look through and choose from. In terms of sound quality, I’m quite sure my hifi system sounds better than most digital systems that are available now, but maybe that’s not necessarily important when we generally only play heavy metal 😆😆

Yes we got rid of our landline more than a year ago since the only calls we got on it were scammers. We only kept it as long as we did because our broadband came in to the house via the BT line. As soon as we could get fibre we ditched our BT line completely, thus saving at least £40 per month on the standing charge.

In the example you give, Netflix v. DVD, there actually isn't that much difference in the level of faff for us. We don't have a smart TV so when we watch on Netflix we connect the laptop to the TV; similarly, when we watch a DVD we have to watch through the laptop as the only thing we have now that plays DVDs is a CD/DVD player that connects via USB to the laptop.

So, we do stream some TV, yes. Our music collection has been digitised, by us, so we don't have to keep hundreds of CDs and vinyl records permanently accessible. However, I think the reason we prefer to do it that way is ownership. If you have a physical thing with the content on - DVD, CD, record, a book - you have really got it. Nobody can change the terms of service, go out of business, remove your right to access it because you can no longer pay the monthly subscription. It will be a cold day in hell before I stop reading books as books and there is no way ever I would get rid of my book collection in favour of some e-reader. Yes I might, often do, have a cull of the shelves and get rid of the ones we will never read again. But only to make room for more! A PP said they can only learn things from a page and I kind of sympathise with that. Also I like to smell books.

Digital life removes a lot of the... I don't know what to call it so let's say texture, from life. You sit and scroll, click, swipe, tap, things happen instantly. It's efficient, I'll grant you that, but it feels flat, I imagine especially to us oldies who are not digital natives. When you go analogue there's a sense of doing something, bodily engaging, rather than just consuming. I get a sense of being rooted in time more from analogue than digital too, digital stuff doesn't stick in my head.

Sometimes the downsides outweigh the positives. As I said before, I wouldn't want to have to go to the library to look up information. Also the inconvenience of correcting mistakes on a typewriter would make that feel more like a punishment than anything for me, but each to their own.

Unkippable ads? On a dvd?
Do you mean a couple of trailers at the start?

When you dream or purchase digital films, you don't own them you merely purchase the right to watch them for an unspecified amount of time. Companies like Amazon have started interrupting them with ads which you can't skip and need to pay an additional fee to remove.

The only benefit to digital files now is that you save physical space but the cost to do so is way too high - and much more than currency.

I think it feels more rewarding if you've had to make some effort to watch or listen to something. If you're flicking through vast amounts of movies which are available anytime, anywhere then it's very easy to just skip through things and never feel invested in them. It's different with something physical.
There are lots of albums I've listened to over the years where tracks I initially didn't think much of, grew on me and became favourites because I listened to the whole album.

I suppose what a lot of us would like (and someone is probably now going to tell me you can have by just playing with the settings on any phone) is the functionality of a phone, with the apps that make our lives easier or more pleasant (for me OS and Google maps and GPS, music/podcast player, loyalty cards, weather, money transfer, camera, WhatsApp (for messages and sharing photos but not chatting) but without all the time suck of social media/Mumsnet or whatever we'd rather not have in our lives.

I like that I can go out and have access to all the useful features of a smart phone, but what I don't like is that I spend too much time on here (I've pretty much given up all other social media and don't use WhatsApp for chatting but obviously communicate as needed with DP and friends/relatives and am in a couple of (thankfully relatively quiet and drama free WhatsApp hobby groups) and I only have Facebook and Instagram accounts because a lot of independent restaurants don't have actual websites and only share their menus, opening times etc on social media.

But despite my preference for paper maps, boarding passes and to do lists, I'm completely wedded to my Kindle such that I can't read paper books comfortably anymore and love that I can read in the middle of the night without putting the light on.

But why? You haven't answered. Why is it supposedly better to you to watch a movie on a dvd instead of on netflix? It's lower quality, takes longer to set up, probably has unskippable ads. I cannot see why you do it.

I cannot memorise stuff if it’s on a screen, so shopping lists and diaries are still paper.

I bought an almost brand new A5 Filofax a couple of years ago which is my diary… it’s heavy so it often stays at home. Gives me an excuse to say “I’ll have to check my diary when I get home “ which buys me time.

Im self employed so can get away with it!

I’m interested in one of these record players that can record vinyls on to memory sticks, which one have you got?

I suppose some people on here would see me as a dinosaur as I’ve never stopped doing most of the things people have mentioned on this thread 😆. We’ve never got rid of our CDs, still watch DVDs and VHS tapes, still have a collection of about 500 vinyl albums and cassette tapes which we play on our hifi system. I’ve never streamed any music or radio and usually listen to live radio in the kitchen, bedroom, and car. We use the landline for almost all phone calls and usually ring people rather than text or use WhatsApp. We’ve got hundreds of books and it would never occur to me to buy a new book in a digital format. I’ve only ever sent an occasional digital birthday card when I’ve forgotten to buy and post a real card in time, I send Christmas cards in the post, and include handwritten letters with cards for overseas relatives. I do occasionally use my phone for directions when I’m driving but mostly rely on my A-Z, and we always buy maps if we’re driving abroad.

I never use my phone to pay for anything and always carry about £30 in cash for small purchases - I’ve even still got a chequebook, although it’s very rare that I actually write one nowadays.

I use a big A5 diary, and have never got rid of my alarm clock. I also print out our holiday photos and put them into albums. I’ve nothing against new technology and think it has its place in most people’s lives, but I can’t see any point in changing things just for the sake of it.

Yes me :)

I've got an old fashioned alarm clock and started reading at night, which means I sleep better and the alarm clock wakes me up first time. Hasn't been the case since I moved to smartphones years ago.

I love the radio so I've used that for years and dab means there are stations dedicated to specific music decades / styles so I' stopped using music streamers. Last year got a new secondhand car and made sure I chose one with a cd player & proper buttons!

I still get my news from the Internet but I started thinking about reverting to watching broadcasts again like you've mentioned.

Apart from my phone, I now avoid all 'smart' technology and only watch TV when there's something on I'm interested in. The rest of time I listen to podcasts, the radio or read. Feel much more content as a result.

Have noticed the major stores seem to be selling analogue clocks again so there's definitely a resurgence.

We get a newspaper delivered now. Dh reads the news every day and had been on his phone. We thought it would be better example to the kids to see him reading a paper. We leave them around, sometimes open when they are having breakfast in the hope that they will mindlessly read something and actually educate themselves..so far they have learnt nothing but we keep trying

I tend to use paper a lot for making lists rather than a phone so we have lots of note books around. Our house is full of books too as I enjoy a physical book.

I bought myself a good turntable and I often sit and listen to records.

My diary is a planner on the kitchen wall.

The only time I watch films is at the local independent cinema.

I get laughed at by friends (my own age and younger) for: having a paper diary, watching tv as it's broadcast, listening to the radio in the kitchen and car, my main news source being tv or radio broadcasts, not owning a Kindle, still watching DVDs (and we do stilll have a video player plugged in!), not knowing how to broadcast music from my phone to my car stereo, not actually having my music on my phone ...

I don't have my phone by my bedside (bad habit!) so have never really got into the habit of using it as my alarm - I have an alarm clock, which I ignore. I buy cds (they're vital revenue for local and folk musicians) which I play in the car.

I’d love a nokia!
i’d only miss vinted, WhatsApp and mumsnet 😆

I've gone back to my analogue wristwatch, just got fed up of fiddling with a Fitbit and don't care about my step count. We still use our hifi and listen to LPs from time to time but also play high quality streaming through it. I listen to the radio all the time but it is DAB. I do read novels on my kindle but like books with pictures like cookery books to be the real thing.

Oh and I still use my old mechanical sewing machines. And analogue alarm clock.

I write notes in a notebook for work, I'm a good typist but can't process information the same way as with handwriting.

we still use alarm clocks (radio ones).
and a hi- fi system for music/ radio. CD’s and vinyl
also- still print out photos.

Why? What's the difference in putting on a dvd or watching the same film through netflix? What difference does it make listening to a cd or the same album through spotify? I get your list thing, but I honestly don't see the point in doing something old for old's sake when it's slower, poorer quality and takes more unnecessary faff. Seems like pretentious nonsense to be honest, like those hipster idiots on their typewriters in cafes.

I think I live a rather simple life but I'm not giving up my smart phone! Its so useful as it has so many functions. You dont need to be glued to it You can just ignore a lot of modren nonsnese like tik tok and influencers!

We still use clocks that you have to change twice a year, CD's, DVD's, books, radios, refuse to use internet banking or pay by phone - far too difficult for me to get into the blooming things in the first place with little sight and what I have is blurred. We don't use Alexa or anything like that, abhor clouds, and have a wonderful life without having to worry about phones being lost/stolen/hacked