The IC3 Blue Train - A little journal about design, marketing, sales and other matters

Where analogue’ traditions’ can be the best complement to digital technology

On the PC/Windows scene, things are significantly better than they used to be. My current PC is soon one year old and it still works pretty well. It’s fast and has lots of semiconductor and magnetic storage capacity. Its 20” widescreen flat panel monitor is convenient and soothing for the eye –great for watching DVDs.

And its sound system is amazing: four speakers, plus a big box that sits on the floor and a fantastic control element (see picture) that includes two more speakers. The perfect support for iTunes. In a nutshell, a digital technology extravaganza of some sort.

Yet, my PC’s best feature is analogue. The sound system’s control element features a good ol’ knob that allows me to manage the sound volume: clockwise to increase it, anti-clockwise to reduce it and turn it off. No need to grab the mouse, to launch a control panel, to grab the tiny cursor and to move it to the desired level.

The knob is here (see picture), under my flat screen, and I can use it without even thinking, instinctively, the same way I control the sound level on my radio, my HIFI amplifier and some other electrical devices.

 
It beats any cursor, push button (my former PC’s sound control was enabled by a ‘plus’ button and a ‘minus’ button on top of one speaker that was difficult to reach and to operate), control panel or gadget invented by nerds who never heard about usability.

We, humans, are analogue ‘beasts’ and I bet you that in about fifty years this digital revolution ill be over and that computers, music, movies e tutti quanti will be (back for some) analogue, and with incredible levels of performance and user comfort.