There’s no doubt we live in a digital world. Pretty much anything and everything can be found online, and more often than not, we create or consume content via a digital device like an iPad, a smartphone, a computer or a television. And given how the world is evolving, it’s fairly obvious this is going to become more prevalent as time goes on.

It should also be fairly obvious, if you’re a regular reader here, at The Flickcast, or a listener of my podcast, I’m a huge fan of technology and this evolving digital world. What people might not know is how much I also love old school, analog tools and things many people may consider obsolete.

Things like pens, pencils, paper, notebooks, watches with hands and more are all as exciting and useful to me as the latest iPad, smartphone, laptop or other piece of technology. I don’t consider them obsolete at all. Far from it. In fact, they are an integral part of my daily life.

Given that fact, I thought it would be fun to share some of the analog tools I enjoy so others could hopefully begin to appreciate them and what they have to offer. And sure, my fondness for these analog tools is partially because I grew up in a time when we didn’t have any real alternatives.

I grew up in a world before the iPad, iPhone, HD TV, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google and all of the other things we take for granted now. Sure, I had a computer (my first was an Apple II+) but the Internet was in its infancy then and to get “online” you had to use a POTS line and a dialup modem.

Yes, it was slow. My God it was slow. But it was amazing too and gave us a glimpse of what was to come.

But to do any real work, I used a notebook and a pen. That’s all I needed. I would write papers, reports, notes, stories and more with that trusty notebook and pen. They never failed me, needed a software update, security patch, lost connectivity or had to be rebooted because they froze. They just worked.

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