I'm not sure it's all technology, mostly the technology that enables media delivery. We build rituals around consuming media (reading newspapers, going to drive-in movie theatres, etc) and those rituals can keep those modes of media consumption alive after the utility is gone. Vinyl records are interesting in that way as they have stayed alive after multiple generations of better technology.
Non-media tech rarely develops that kind of ritual, so it just doesn't survive a new wave.
This comment somehow inspired another interesting example in my head (probably since you mentioned the word 'rituals') - fire used to be about cooking, now it's mostly a gathering point for socialization. And to your point - fire is really just another delivery method of food if you think about it. Restaurants abstract it away into the kitchen, but places like Benihana bring the cooking forward as an experience - and people love that.
Nobody seems to have noticed the disappearance of bars of soap. Try looking for one at a grocery store. There's a shelf and a half at the bottom in a corner, if any.
E-readers could not replace paper back books, but Netflix quickly replaced DVDs (which they also sold). I’d theorize that the tactile exchange of information is irreplaceable, although it is cheaply replicable. Zoom was able to suffice as the means for communications, but only until the ‘old way’ was available again.
More good examples here - I personally still have both a physical book collection (and vinyl). I find the aesthetics of both better, and the tactile experience is nice. Worth the cost and honestly there's something about being able to find this type of media visually. The weight of using it feels different. We occupy physical space too, after all. DVDs I don't really have such a connection to, but understand why some keep them (since the streaming services frequently just remove content without reason).
Have you also noticed a propensity to hesitate when writing with pen and paper vs on an internet platform? The 'weight' of actually using what feels to be a tangible resource (paper) evokes a certain desire to not waste it. This feeling, compared to the ease of typing these words with little concern of how many coals were burned to power Substack.
I'm not sure it's all technology, mostly the technology that enables media delivery. We build rituals around consuming media (reading newspapers, going to drive-in movie theatres, etc) and those rituals can keep those modes of media consumption alive after the utility is gone. Vinyl records are interesting in that way as they have stayed alive after multiple generations of better technology.
Non-media tech rarely develops that kind of ritual, so it just doesn't survive a new wave.
This comment somehow inspired another interesting example in my head (probably since you mentioned the word 'rituals') - fire used to be about cooking, now it's mostly a gathering point for socialization. And to your point - fire is really just another delivery method of food if you think about it. Restaurants abstract it away into the kitchen, but places like Benihana bring the cooking forward as an experience - and people love that.
Nobody seems to have noticed the disappearance of bars of soap. Try looking for one at a grocery store. There's a shelf and a half at the bottom in a corner, if any.
E-readers could not replace paper back books, but Netflix quickly replaced DVDs (which they also sold). I’d theorize that the tactile exchange of information is irreplaceable, although it is cheaply replicable. Zoom was able to suffice as the means for communications, but only until the ‘old way’ was available again.
More good examples here - I personally still have both a physical book collection (and vinyl). I find the aesthetics of both better, and the tactile experience is nice. Worth the cost and honestly there's something about being able to find this type of media visually. The weight of using it feels different. We occupy physical space too, after all. DVDs I don't really have such a connection to, but understand why some keep them (since the streaming services frequently just remove content without reason).
Have you also noticed a propensity to hesitate when writing with pen and paper vs on an internet platform? The 'weight' of actually using what feels to be a tangible resource (paper) evokes a certain desire to not waste it. This feeling, compared to the ease of typing these words with little concern of how many coals were burned to power Substack.
hah I don't think running Substack uses all that much power you don't have to worry about this