Is analogue is the new digital?

[intro] I think I'm going soft. For years I have been following the pace of technology like a man possessed.[/intro]

I think I'm going soft. For years I have been following the pace of technology like a man possessed. I stagger, gibbering, after any tiny shiny that claims to give me more power and more connectivity in a more pocketable, sexier form.

That is, until now. I've suddenly become bothered about the experience of the thing. I want feedback from gadgets; I want using technology to be an emotional thing again.

For this, the blame lies squarely on the broad shoulders of the Nikon D40. I had, previously, avoided SLR cameras, preferring the pocket-power of a decent compact. But the D40 isn't obscenely big. And it's mechanical. You have to frame shots using the viewfinder. You zoom by twisting the lens, not by pressing a button. And when you hit the shutter, things actually move. It goes 'clunk-chik', and only then does the LCD show you what you shot.

Now, compared to the cold beep of a cameraphone, or the ridiculous shutter sound effect of a compact, the D40 is a joyous thing to use. It makes taking pictures an event, both for you and for your subject. Unless, of course, you spend too long messing with manual shutter speed and aperture settings, at which point your subject has probably pissed off to the bar.

So, I've been using a D-SLR. But it doesn't stop there. My sensation cravings have led me elsewhere. I've got myself a fountain pen. It leaks, smudges and needs regular refilling - but I don't care. I enjoy writing with it. And, much to the mirth of my colleagues, I've bought a mechanical watch. Not an automatic, not Eco-Drive, not Kinetic - mechanical. It needs winding up. Brilliant.

All this seems pretty harmless, but yesterday things took a dangerous turn. I was paused on the steps of the office, scrolling through my iPod for a new album downloaded that very day. I started thinking how much more of an event it had been when a new album meant crouching outside the music shop, ripping the cellophane off the cassette case then watching your Walkman taking up the slack in the tape. Doesn't that make MP3 seem kind of boring?

It wouldn't be that hard. I could download tracks from eMusic and 'burn' them to cassette. I'm off to check eBay for working Walkmans. It's all right, I'm sure this is just a phase...