But I didn’t, then, imagine young people in the 21st century having intense relationships with vinyl records, or YouTube allowing anyone to hear virtually anything at any moment. I didn’t imagine the intricate atemporality of a more evolved digital realm. And I didn’t imagine anything like The 78 Project, in which we discover that not only are dead media platforms not dead at all, but that they can be gateways into their own peculiarly new universes of creativity.
Antiquarians have been around a long time, God bless them, probably as long as humans, who seem to be hard-wired for nostalgia. I began my professional life using a typewriter, and I once had a much-admired sound system for playing vinyl records. I don't miss them. I prefer the convenience of contemporary technology. When I want an authentic sound, I go to a concert.
I am sure I learned something about writing from having to do it by means of a typewriter, just as I'm sure I learned something about it when writing my hand. But I doubt if any of that was crucial to making me into the writer I happen to be.
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