'The Revenge of Analog': Author discusses premise of book
David Sax, speaker and author of "The Revenge of Analog," discusses his book and the return of vinyl records, film cameras and Moleskine journals during CMU's Friends of the Library Speaker Series Sept. 22 in the Sarah and Daniel Opperman Auditorium at Charles V. Park Library.
After a month of diligently stockpiling more than 600 CDs and uploading them to iTunes, David Sax and his technologically-adept roommate Adam began streaming music through their new Wi-Fi router. In 2007, the idea of streaming music this way was revolutionary and “horribly laborious,” Sax said.
While convenient, Sax said he immediately quit listening to music, and the intrigue expired overnight. A few months later, the roommates visited Adam’s parents. They returned to their apartment with a turn-table and the “average, baby-boomer” record collection — Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond, Sax said.
While it wasn’t equal to the 600 CDs living in his computer, Sax said he spent more time listening to the records. People visiting his apartment would make a beeline to the record player.
“For us, it wasn’t about the quality of sound,” Sax said. “It was the immersive experience.”
Sax found he wasn’t alone. Over the last decade, vinyl record sales have risen by more than $12 million and continue to grow, according to Statista.
“The vinyl record business was completely decimated, and, now, people are reopening record stores and building new machines in places like Detroit,” the Toronto native said.
But it is not only vinyl records. Sax claims to have found other analog systems, like film cameras, Polaroids, Moleskine journals and whiteboards, have also seen a resurgence recently.
“The revenge of analog is the renewed growth of non-digital technologies in a time where digital technology is having its exponential explosion,” Sax said. “The value of analog has changed.”
Sax, an author and speaker, visited Central Michigan University Sept. 21 as part of the Friends of the Library Speaker Series to discuss his book, “The Revenge of Analog.”
Before becoming a speaker and book author, Sax was a national correspondent. He freelanced for magazines and newspapers like The New York Times, Vanity Fair and GQ.
Ten years ago, Sax published his first book. Writing has kept his curiosity and questions flowing, he said.
Sax’s next book, “The Soul of an Entrepreneur,” is set to be published in April 2020.
Dean of University Libraries Kathy Irwin read Sax’s most recent book before his visit. The librarian and former educator spends her life surrounded by analog — books.
The dean said she is constantly pressured to remove books from shelves to create more space or make way for digital systems. Irwin believes e-books will never be superior to books.
“We can’t lose sight of the fact that we are living in a real world,” she said. “Knowledge is socially created, so we need to be careful giving more attention to the virtual rather than the physical.”
While many think the resurgence of analog is being driven by nostalgia, Sax believes analog is being welcomed by college-aged individuals who have no connection to the early to mid-20th century.
For some, analog is a source of pleasure, Sax said.
“There is no logical reason to buy physical books — they cost more money, kill trees and take up more space,” Sax said. “Still, an overwhelming amount of readers prefer to read a physical copy because it brings them joy.”
Sax said humans also crave balance as digital mediums creep further toward overcoming everyday life.
“There is a big cultural shift around social media and device time,” Sax said. “The internet and cell phone are no longer an unabashed good. It has a downside and analog is the counterpoint to it.”
