The Revenge of Analog: Real Things and Why They Matter

Blending psychology and observant wit with first-rate reportage, Sax shows the limited appeal of the purely digital life-and the robust future of the real world outside it.. One of Michiko Kakutani's (New York Times) top ten books of 2016A funny thing happened on the way to the digital utopia. As e-books are supposedly remaking reading, independent bookstores have sprouted up across the country. Notebooks, records, and stationery have become cool again. Businesses that once looked outdated, from film photography to brick-and-mortar retail, are now springing with new life. We've begun to fall back in love with the very analog goods and ideas the tech gurus insisted that we no longer needed. Even the offices of tech giants like Google and Facebook increasingly rely on pen and paper to drive their brightest ideas.Sax's work reveals a deep truth about how humans shop, interact, and even think. As music allegedly migrates to the cloud, vinyl record sales have grown more than ten times over the past decade. Behold the Revenge of Analog.David Sax has uncovered story after story of entrepreneurs, small business owners, and even big corporations who've found a market selling not apps or virtual solutions but real, tangible things

In this fun tour of modern culture, David Sax has collected hundreds of ways that an analog approach can improve our newest inventions. In The Revenge of Analog, David Sax shows the continued importance of the physical stuff to how we live and work today."Richard Florida, author of Rise of the Creative Class"We all thought the digital age would be the end of analog media--and we were wrong. David Sax reassures us surviving members of team human that material existence is alive and

He lives in Toronto. . His work appears regularly in Bloomberg Businessweek, the New Yorker's Currency blog, and other publications. David Sax is a writer and reporter who specializes in business and culture. He is the author of Save the Deli, which won a James Beard Award for Writing and Literature, and The Tastemakers

The Digital World Values Analog More Than Anyone There are some surprising facts in THE REVENGE OF ANALOG. I admit I was very skeptical of the author's claim that independent bookstores are actually making a comeback. So I checked the facts, and sure enough, the author is correct--these stores are indeed increasing!The author points out that online book sales have tremendously expanded-- but amazingly, the huge expansion has NOT been huge profits. That is, they "fail at the one thing they’re supposed to do." The author is right to point out this amazing contradiction. In fact, Amazon's book business is only slight profitable--and that recently. I confess I never reall. Fascinating Counter-thinking about the Digital Era Steely Dan This is one of those books I find myself recommending over and over to friends and acquaintances--heck, even to near-strangers. It's a fascinating thesis and provocative insight into what experiences human beings crave and are rewarded by. One of the sticky passages: the author's observation about how much more sensory learning a two year old gains from finger painting with actual finger paints--which of course end up dripping down her arm, in her hair, on the dog, and occasionally on the paper--than from drawing on an Ipad. That and the concept of "finishability" which explains why it's so much more satisfying to read an act. A fantastic read. David takes you on an eloquent and A fantastic read. David takes you on an eloquent and informative journey and manages to envoke an appreciation and a greater want for more analog and less digital time - two chapters in I was wanting a record player, a moleskin journal and was planning less screen time ! 3 cheers and 5 stars