Analog tools

This post has been scheduled in advance to be published during my digital detox period.

Here are some analog tools I'm using during that time.

The watch and barometer were given to me by my father, and belonged to his father. The barometer was sold in Aussig an der Elbe, the town in Czechoslovakia where the Pollatschek (later Polt) family lived until 1938. It is now known as Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic.

I don't use the term "analog" as a general alternative to "digital." I think it strictly applies only to devices that represent reality through analogies, through similarities. The movement of the watch hands is analogous to the rotation of the earth. The position of the indicator on the barometer is analogous to the air pressure. The height of the mercury column is analogous to the temperature of the air.

Pens and typewriters aren't "analog" technology in this strict sense. I'm looking for a better term—a word that would express a contrast to the digital, while including some positive, illuminating conception of what these things are.

The fate of the blogless

This post has been scheduled in advance to be published during my digital detox period. Don't worry, I probably won't be wailing ... I think. But as I was rereading this text, I couldn't resist posting it.

"The Buribunks" is a uncannily prescient satire about a world where everyone is required to publish diaries about everything they experience. They are perfectly free to write that they have nothing to write, or that they hate writing—but if they actually stop writing, they fall into social oblivion.

An English translation is in the works, and I plan on contributing an essay to an anthology of buribunkological studies.

A couple of reader reviews for COLD HARD TYPE ... and I'm out

I just had to share these very nice reader reviews that were posted on Amazon.




Now, having had the pleasure of completing this two-volume project and sharing it with the typosphere, including the crowd at Herman's this last weekend, I am ready to embark on an extended period of analog rest. I explain the idea in this post.

In the next few days, I may schedule a post or two for publication while I'm offline. I may also write some blog posts when I'm offline, and post them when I return in early August. But no promises.

While I'm not touching computers, you are welcome to correspond with me on paper (see the "Write me a letter" link at the top of this page).

Have a great summer!

Some more Cold Hard Type sightings

Thanks for these photos, folks! Happy reading.



At the moment, the volumes are on sale for $5.37 (Paradigm Shifts) and $5.02 (Escapements)!

Paradigm Shifts around the world

People are starting to post photos of Paradigm Shifts, hot off the press. It's very gratifying to see this volume existing on paper, in the hands of typospherians. Enjoy!

COLD HARD TYPE II: Escapements now available

The second volume of COLD HARD TYPE is now available! I am glad to present Escapements: Typewritten Tales from Post-Digital Worlds.

With no digital technology, the world can be a harsh place—and a surprising one. Whatever happens, our typewriters will be there to document it. Imagine the possibilities in this collection of stories, poems, and art.

This volume includes contributions by Wendell Berry, Jenny Bristol, Rory Bristol, Ariana Davenport, Shelley K. Davenport, Jamie Davies, Frederic S. Durbin, Mathilda-Anne Florence, N. E. Glenn, Martyn V. Halm, Lori Hedges, John Howell, Scott Kernaghan, Shane L. Larson, Timothy Ley, LA Marler, Todd Mauldin, C. M. Mayo, Andrew V. McFeaters, Bill Meissner, Klaus Mielke, Eliezane Moon, Duane Morrison, John Munroe, Christopher Ochs, David W. Pedersen, Jim Pennington, Monica Quinn, Kim e. Revay, Charly Roland, Andre Gene Samson, Philip L. Simpson, Maria Tolentino, Armando Warner, and Donald Winzer.

You can purchase Escapements on Amazon now.

And don't miss volume 1, Paradigm Shifts!