(in)Tangible

I have always lived on the corner of digital and analog.

I mean, I love the internet. Always have.

I love what I can touch, too. Always will.

It seems we're all that way, now.

Growing up with BBSes and dial-up modems, the digital realms were left to nerds. And I was one, being Co-SysOp of a local board. It was a niche of a niche, and that made it even better.

But today, everyone wants to be online. Kids strive to be YouTubers. And you can make a living doing tangible things in an intangible world.

It's almost fading the other way. The tangible stuff is becoming the niche of a niche.

"What's wrong with him?" Was asked about those who lived on the computer and drove their family nuts by tying up the home line with a modem that screeched violently if they picked the phone up to make a call.

Now, "What's wrong with him?" is asked about a person who wants to stay off social media and keep a low profile online. Suspect by not wanting to connect.

The intangible has become too trusted. People used to be so suspicious of whoever they met online. Now, we're butchered like pigs because everyone trusts their little always-online pocket computer and the things it alerts them to.

Maybe it's the city boy in me, but I don't trust anybody.

DTA.

I was writing this to celebrate the mixture of the tangible and intangible.

I didn't mean to go so gloomy. 

It's interesting because the intangible is now a very, very real part of the world.

You can get thrown in prison for actions done only in an imaginary world. 

Very tangible consequences from intangible actions.

All of this to say:

It's weird, right?

I can't put my finger on it, but it's just really weird.

There's no difference now, between digital and analog.

It's just one big thing.

And it's only getting bigger.

This is weird, right?

I live on the corner of digital and analog, but I repeat myself.