There’s no doubt that living in a world where you can find anything you want on your phone has its benefits. With the push of a button, you can have an entire book in front of you. You can have whatever music you want. You can watch a movie on a little screen that fits in one hand. All of this is great, but sometimes I wish that everyone would go back to older technology for a little while.
As much as I love how easy it is to use my phone for entertainment, it doesn’t feel nearly as special as it would if you were using the physical thing. Picking out a disk to put into my CD player feels like something I get to do rather than something I’m just doing to fill up the empty space in my mind.
Physical media makes things more of an event than a time killer. Most times when I watch a movie, it’s something I decide to put on my phone right at that moment because I’m bored, whereas if I pick out a blue ray disk to watch on my TV, it feels like something to be excited about. It’s an entire endeavor that I expect to go uninterrupted. Using a DVD makes it feel like a routine to put a bag of popcorn in the microwave and make myself some chocolate milk.
Books especially are almost infinitely better when you’re using a physical hard cover copy rather than selecting it on a kindle to read on a screen. It engages your senses. It’s easy on the eyes. The joy of turning a page is something that just can’t be matched by pressing the “turn page” button on your phone. It almost builds suspense.
With physical media also comes the joy of collecting it. To have a shelf full of books, of vinyls, of DVDs, feels like an accomplishment. Looking at your collection of the physical copies of something you enjoy with a passion feels like something to admire. Something to be proud of. You get to experience the excitement of getting your hands on a limited edition record or a signed copy of your favorite book.
Most importantly, physical media creates separation. When you use your phone, you’re always one notification away from distraction. When you put on a record or open a book, you’re choosing focus. You’re stepping into a space that belongs to the music, the story, or the film.
While modern day devices come with the convenience of having entertainment at your fingertips, the feeling of using something other than your phone is exhilarating. It makes once unspecial things that you get to do every day an experience to look forward to.
