Digital Isn't Always Better

          Well, it’s official.  I’m an old fogy.  It isn’t even a function of years; it’s a function of outlook.  I know someone about twenty years my junior who is an older fogy - he doesn’t do e-mail.  It’s attitude toward the digital age.
It used to be if you wanted to comment on something in your newspaper, you wrote a letter.  The “Speak Up” feature, you called a phone number, and said yes or no, and left a comment.  That phone number doesn’t exist any more.  Things have changed.  I went to call that number, and instead of spending 30 seconds making my comment, I spent five minutes finding the place to vote on my computer, and voting - no comments permitted.  That was most of the fun of voting - you got to make a one-sentence remark that may make the paper.  Who cares if I’m one of three thousand people voting?
Although I’ve used a computer for work for 27 years, and been online for most of the last twenty years (it really was not such a much for the first five), there are certain things I find are still done better the old-fashioned way.  However, one by one it’s becoming impossible to do things any other way.  Why?  Not because it’s better or more effective.  The real reason is because IT’S CHEAPER FOR THE BUSINESSES!  I’ll say that again.  IT’S CHEAPER FOR THE BUSINESSES!
Now I’ve said it, I feel better.  It’s one thing to e-mail a letter to the editor.  And I know young people would rather read the news on their Tablet computer.  I still like to read my newspaper cover to cover.  Looking for something that may not be there, or jumping from link to link isn’t reading the paper.  You miss a lot more that way.  There may be more news online, but good luck finding it.  And if you see a banner headline you want to read after you’re finished with what you’re reading, good luck getting back to that page.  And pop-up ads are a lot harder to ignore than print.  And if I want a product in a print ad, I can refer to it any time I want to - just try finding that ad again online.  And I don’t want to bring my laptop to the table.  It gets in the way, and is at risk anywhere near a beverage.
I like to call companies to make complaints or get service, and actually talk to a human being (assuming that person actually understands English).  Many companies make that impossible today.  They want an e-mail they can ignore, or online chat that doesn’t work half the time, and when it does work, you often get the feeling the guy you’re connected to is multitasking - taking five online calls at once.
I also don’t buy many things online.  My shape is a lot different from a model’s, so I like to try clothing on to see how it’s cut, and read the label for washing instructions before I buy it.  For some non-clothing items I like to actually ask the salesperson questions - not that most salespersons can answer them these days, but that’s for another column.  Also, when you buy from a store you can actually bring the item right home to use, and you’re supporting local employment.  The job you save may be your child’s.
The digital age is useful for finding specific things, at times, and I don’t really want to go backwards, but forgive me if I have some nostalgia for a time when you dealt with people to get things done, and following the news was done somewhat at leisure, and wasn’t all peek-a-boo and pop-ups.