As digital technology takes over our lives, we are increasingly drawn to the analogue technology of the past. Vinyl records, physical books and Moleskine notebooks are all enjoying a revival. We might be quick to dismiss this as a fad or harmless nostalgia. But scratch the surface of this phenomenon and what you find is some deep truths about the nature of technology and our relationship to it. We have a deep evolutionary, material, and conceptual connection with analogue technology that is simply lacking in our relationship with digital technology. The more digital technology overwhelms our lives, the more we will crave our affinity with analogue technology, argues Robert Hassan.

There’s an online store called The Electric Recording Company. The website deals in the psychology of fantasy for the many lovers and dreamers of analogue days and things. Google it and you will be transported (digitally and virtually) to a pre-digital world of music that is, (through expertly rendered HTML coding) a curated simulacra of an analogue audiophiles’ wet dream.