Professor O’Malley said something at the end of our September 12 class that really stayed with me. He had just introduced us to the workings of the 1950’s, with the Cold War as the backdrop. Spurred on by the tension and danger between the US and the Soviet Union, the US now had a permanent standing army and lots of new technology. It’s not the kind of technology kids grow up with now, which is all based on digital computers. This was the “old-fashioned” technology that started it all – and it was all analog, mechanical, based on gears and cogs. Professor O’Malley said it was like a “lost world” – and oh how right he is! Today’s lecture included the origin of “hypertext” as well as thermionic (vacuum) tubes, electricity, and the Audion. Does anybody else feel sad about this lost world? And where is that sadness coming from? We have wonderful technology now – cell phones, Kindles, laptops, on and on. So why is there a longing for the “old days”? I’m caught between two times- the pre-digital era and the post-digital era. I grew up in an analog world. My dad was an electrical engineer who worked on analog projects in his younger days, then later had to move to the digital stuff, along with everyone else. So he was caught between worlds as well, but he adapted, but I believe I remember him talking about preferring the old analog projects he worked on. Compared to now, my life growing up seemed so much easier. I knew how to roll down a car window rather than searching for the right button in my fully-computerized car (among WAY too many buttons!); it was so easy to look up books in the card catalog at the library – I know that sounds contradictory, but somehow it’s true; phone numbers were 7 digits – you only had to use an area code if calling long distance; there were only a few TV channels – not as many shows to watch but there wasn’t the constant overload of trying to figure out what to watch. The examples can go on and on. Don’t get me wrong – I truly do appreciate what we have now. Here I am typing away on my beloved PC, with my cell phone, iPAD, and Kindle not far away from me. Yet I periodically find myself longing for the simpler days. Can we ever go back? I don’t think so, unless the world got wiped out by nuclear war and we somehow survived and started over. But even then, we would still have the memory and knowledge of the digital world, and that’s what we would rebuild. Carr was right that we are losing something precious in our ability to immerse ourselves in deep reading of books, and have our brains hang on to its original wiring so that we can think deeply and contemplate. Vannevar Bush’s extraordinary imagination and brilliance have enabled us to have so many inventions that have provided protection and convenience in our lives, so he was right as well. I know it might be a losing battle, but I for one am going to cling to the simple days in whatever little ways that I can – turn  off my electronic devices sometimes and lose myself in a good book for a while. (Then I’ll be back checking my email.)