I chose to talk on the phone as my experience with analog technology. I actually am a big phone-talker, so what I will be describing won’t necessarily be an entire new experience, but I think it is one worth writing about because I have never actually sat down and analyzed why I enjoy the experience so much, or what I think it has to offer.

The digital technology that I am going to define as the “opposite” of talking on the phone is the action of texting. On a general day to day basis, I text more than I talk on the phone. There are about three people currently in my life who I text on a daily basis, plus the handful of friends who text me, or who I contact more sporadically. The experience I have with texting is somewhat of a mixed bag. I enjoy being able to speak to my friends throughout the day and keep in touch, without always having to rest my sole attention on the conversation. If I text, I can still run errands, do homework, or relax with a book or a TV show. But this very benefit of texting is also what stresses me out. Receiving jolts of incoming text-tones often stress me out. Sometimes it does not feel good to be constantly interrupted, even if I am enjoying the conversation I am having. Because of texting, and all the other features my cell phone can offer, I find that I carry it with me everywhere I go, even if I am only walking across the room. Sometimes this makes me feel trapped, and I have gotten into the habit of turning off my cell phone when I feel this way. Overall, texting is very convenient because it is fast and doesn’t require a lot of energy. But once again, its strength is its downfall. Sometimes I have gotten so much into the habit of texting, that I will text in order to contact someone even when it is less convenient.

I like the conversations I have with my friends over text and the ability texting gives me to talk to them more often, but nothing beats the experience of talking over the phone. This week, my friend texted me asking if I could help her with her English paper. I began to type out my thoughts on the thesis she had texted to me, and then decided this would be the perfect opportunity to give my analogue experience a-go. Talking on the phone is not out of the ordinary for me, but it is in terms of simple conversations like this one, where all I was being asked to do was discuss a thesis. I called the friend to answer her that way, and this was our first phone conversation. I was completely focused on the conversation—as one has to be when actual engaging in auditory conversation—and helped my friend plan her paper. Then we began to talk about other things, and ended up having a wonderfully fulfilling conversation which lasted over an hour. I don’t know if we would have had such a long and deep conversation had we only spoken through text. It was a pleasant surprise to bond further with this friend in an unexpected way. Even the act of talking into a phone was more satisfying that having to type out long messages just to get an idea across.

I am definitely more likely to talk on the phone now for simpler reasons. Normally I call a friend and prepare for a three hour catch-up conversation. But I wonder what else I could experience if I used the phone as a means of communicating small things as well. Will I end up feeling closer to the people I text every day?

It is interesting to think that with the same object, I can have two entirely different experiences even though both texting and talking on the phone are options the device gives me to communicate almost instantaneously with others, no matter how far away they are. It is also odd to think that I can have an analogue experience on a cell phone. Go figure.