I always mark my centenary posts with a reflection of some sort. This is no exception. Here's my 1600th. It's about vinyl. Yes, vinyl. And it's not simply a nostalgia piece. It's about where I'm at. Right here. Right now.
Here's the thing. Although I am a "digital guy," I not only appreciate -- I crave (as we all do, more than we think) -- the offline physical world. That's what this post is about. A reminder of how important that physical reality is in this increasingly digital world where experiences and purported meaning become more and more virtual and, hence, remote.
Here's a reminder. "Real" experiences matter most. Touching. Feeling. Sharing. Communing.
At last year's Grammy's, I attended a gathering of music industry execs at a swank Beverly Hills hotel. But this was no typical event. It had some real meaning. Real appreciation for the power of music (something about which I absolutely believe ... because I feel it every day ... my therapy ... my chill).
After speaking with some of the guests for a few minutes at this event, a featured guest -- a young woman sitting behind a typewriter -- asked me to sit down. She was an author. A poet of sorts. And, her tool of the trade was a non-electronic Smith-Corona. Remember those? Old-fashioned typewriters that no one uses anymore. As she typed, I asked her what spurred her, as an artist, to type with a manual Smith-Corona in our digital world. She answered that it was precisely that -- the search for the physical ... the tangible -- in our increasingly virtual digital world. And she told me that she was not alone. That typewriters are making a comeback. And, here's the thing. This was no simple nostalgia. This was not me talking. She was young. No more than 25.
Which brings me to music -- and to vinyl. We all know that vinyl too is coming back in a big way. And the millennials are leading the way.
What's going on here?
It's simply this. It is the search for something tangible. Something that can be touched. Something that has some kind of feeling of permanence -- a permanence that gives it increased meaning. Digital doesn't have that. You can't go to a digital store and flip through albums and discover great new music that way. And, "that way" is very very cool. And, fundamentally different. You actually touch that vinyl. You make the "connection" -- and it connects with you. This is something that digital natives have missed -- and want to bring back. Amazon -- the king of everything "e" -- recognizes this. That's why they are bringing back physical bookstores in which we can all simply hang out, sift through stacks of actual books, and browse to our hearts delight.
We see this counter-reaction to digital in our interactions as well. Music festivals have sprouted everywhere at an accelerating pace. Millennials save up all year and spend millions (billions) to make annual pilgrimages to Coachella, Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, Life Is Good, and hundreds of other festivals all over the planet. Why? It goes beyond the music (although the music itself is tribal). It goes to our core desire as human beings to have a sense of physical community in our increasingly disconnected (connected?) virtual digital online social media world where we have hundreds and sometimes thousands of friends ... but, how many of those are real ... or matter?
That's why vinyl represents a movement. It is a search for something physical and a bit more permanent. For gatherings of the tribes. For meaning. For experiences.
And, after all, isn't life ultimately about real experiences and meaning ... and not just accumulating virtual "stuff" (or physical stuff for that matter)?