I’m fully aware that the title of this post is—odd—to say the least, but I do think there’s something to be said here, especially in the world of tech. The thing about the digital world is that nothing is tangible anymore. The music you listen to: you can’t hold it like a record, tape, or CD; the photos you take: you can’t feel them; and the books you read don’t have the feel of the paper, the sound of the curling page, or the scent of the ink on the paper.

Technology, in a sense, can take this all away. There are definitely benefits, though; I don’t have to worry about spilling my drink on my book and ruining the pages, I don’t have to worry about potentially creasing the book in my backpack, and more. But that’s not to say that this kind of feeling: craftsmanship, quality, tactility, is gone with technology.

On: Stationery

There’s a whole community around hobbyist collectors of stationery. People who spend as much time thinking about fountain pens, calligraphy, disc bound notebooks, and the proper width for a mechanical pencil (it’s 0.5mm I will not be taking questions) as we do about the weight of a mouse, or the feel of a particular alloy chassis (aluminum is so much better than magnesium, for example). The focus here is on the tactility—the glide of the pen tip across the paper, the sound of the words being transferred from your mind to the paper—there’s something special in those little moments for many people (I was personally really into this kind of stuff back before I really got into tech, mostly mechanical pencils).

The Physicalness of the Digital World

One aspect of the digital world that is often forgotten is that it exists within the physical world. The keyboard I’m using to type this right now is real. I can feel the tactility of each key press, I can hear the sound of each key clicking as I type these words. This whole world is not lost in the digital world—in fact it surrounds it.

The tactility exists in the cool, dark aluminum of this iPad, in the click of each key on the keyboard, in the touch of each button on my AirPods Max, on the resistance of the ear cups as I extend and retract them. It’s an aspect of technology that I largely feel is overlooked and it’s something I admire greatly about each and every piece of technology I own.

Closing

I think there’s something people tend to miss when it comes to technology—it’s important to consider both the physical and digital nature of the devices that have become such a large part of our lives. Thoughts? Let me know over on Bluesky or Mastodon.