Analog works when we stop sharing on social media

The only way it works is to get off social media

At this point it should be called "going offline" instead of "going analog". You don't have to wave goodbye to the conveniences of digital media just to try to escape from the toxic aspects of modern day life. I like my iPod because it shuffles my favourite songs at the press of a button. I like carrying a book around, but I also don't mind carrying an e-reader. The important thing is that you are enjoying yourself.

Now “digital minimalism” has become performative on social media.

I've said it before, I don't think we need to go back to the stone ages, but I do think we've overshot the right balance of technology. I think the iPod is a good example of making it easier to take your music with you on the go - but then we got Spotify and it basically gamified music streaming and turned it in to a subscription. Having a phone to take pictures and communicate has been incredible....but using it to scroll TikTok 90% of the time sort of misses the point. I don't want more subscriptions and convenience and algorithms.... everything is already convenient enough....what I want is to be more present and for the technology to get out of the way and be the tool I use to enjoy the thing, not the main focus itself. I don't want my phone to be the thing I stare at all day, I just need it to help me navigate, call my friends, and take pictures. I don't need Netflix to tell me what to watch next, I just need my movies and shows to be easy to watch...I think THATS the spirit of the analog movement, not "how much tech from before 2008 can I flex on all my socials"

"heres me using a flip phone!" (photo taken on an iPhone and posted on Instagram).

Nostalgia is not a strategy. Digital minimalism is not consumerism. First it's "touch grass and being ok with doing without", and working from there - it's mindfulness on how we interact with technology, from economic to ecological.

Not a single item pictured in the thumbnail is actually analogue

I got a digicam because I got tired of smartphones making everything feel overprocessed, especially with AI (and overall just feeling less fun).

I got both a digital and miniDV camcorder for the same reasons as above, but also because nothing will beat 20x optical zoom.

I got a modded iPod because I listen to a lot of video game soundtracks and wanted a "for life" place to store it all since the big N is notorious for shutting down channels. (Yes there's Nintendo Music, I use both)

All of these things were trending at some point, but I did not buy them because they were trending. I bought them because I genuinely use them. I didn't even know they were a trending thing until I did research on certain models. I don't have Tiktok nor Instagram, and I have YT Shorts completely disabled/hidden.

I love the cameras for that traditional "amateur home video" feel, and I use them to build a digital/physical media scrapbook.

I couldn't care less if these were trending or not, it wouldn't have changed my buying decisions

03:47 This is also assuming the people who bought iPods or Kindles were the ones struggling with anxiety or depression in the first place. Which, in and of itself, is a pretty messed-up assumption.

The people who are actually going analog aren't posting about it

It's not analog if it's digital things. Analog television broadcast, vinyl records, compact cassette tapes, analog video recorder, analog camera, etc. Stop saying analog about digital things.

I think the idea should be to grab the ideas as they pass you by, extract what value you can from it and assimilate the ideas into your life as you see fit. Continuing to engage with the "trend" side of something beyond the initial exposure will only end with seeing it burn itself out. If something really speaks to you, maybe engage further with the foundational material that has stood the test of time, or find like-minded people to surround yourself with.

The foundational ideas are just as sound as they've ever been, and engaging with the trend side of things is really just the fault of the the person who does so.

the only thing like this ive done is buy an old imac with a cd/dvd rw drive and a psp so i can rip/download a bunch of music and sync it to the psp to listen to whenever i want without wifi or a subscription, i also just finished persona 3 with the femc cutscenes mod on the psp. it’s so sad that people buy up all this old tech not for the purpose of actually using it, but to post about it online, which makes it hard for people like me who actually have usecases for this stuff to be able to get it for a reasonable price, it’s insane to me that my PSP was $100 AUD and that’s considered a good deal…

Calling something "analog" that is literally digital..... I don't understand why anyone does this. I love the phrase "digital minimalism", this is a much more accurate descriptor. If you spend $500 on a "dumb phone" you're not "going analog". Just buy a $100 used phone and have the self control to not install the doomscrolling apps.

I had a dumbphone and cell phone both at the same time - I'd take the former everywhere, and use the latter at home. I miss this mode of operation, I'm trying to get back to it.

It's already been pointed out in other comments and it's really the main point. These trends, and that's all they are, will only ever be about presentation on social media. I saw the same thing happen when the minimalism trend was a thing. When I was growing up we just called that living frugal but I digress. I don't think most people want to live a minimalist life since social media has been injected into out lifestyle so much. I still remember the days before the internet existed (I know that makes me old) and others like me who do remember those days we remember boredom. We remember what it's like to just live in the moment and to live a much slower life where we weren't trying to validate our importance so much. We weren't chasing likes and "followers" and everything horrible social media has brought into society. Gen X will probably be the last generation to have the ability and desire to put our phones down and tune out for a little while.

This was a good watch, and something I've been thinking about. I watch your channel because the content is good and you review things that I have a genuine interest in. That said, I'm a technophile and I work in tech - screen time is both a job and a hobby for me, and there's no getting away from that to some extent. But I do want to "unplug", in a manner of speaking. I don't want to give corporations unfettered access to everything about myself and my family. So "cord cutting" and "going analog" for me is about learning how to self-host the services that the cloud offers on my own hardware. And I still like analog media, because putting on a record is one activity I have where I can just sit down and enjoy the music. No screens, no lights, just listening.

So it's an interplay between balancing personal interests in the tech sphere, and simultaneously removing myself to some extent from it. And with the increase in hardware prices, this is becoming difficult to do unless you really deal hunt and look for secondhand equipment.  That said, you can put together some truly powerful gear secondhand to stop relying on companies to host your data.

So I always like when a video pops up from you, because I get to see alternate strategies for things that I wouldn't have thought of

I love the channel. As for trends for analogue tech, you wouldn’t know about this trend without being in the digital era. Is this not a paradox event?

2041 gonna be like "Spending ONE WEEK with a smartphone from 2026 - How I learned to turn off my corneal-cochular holo-implants and live in the moment with an old touch-screen device"