Last week I bought myself a hand-held tape recorder, the kind that takes regular-sized cassette tapes. I have been having some fun with it so far and am looking at various ways I can use it to supplement the work I do online. I decided not to buy a digital handheld recorder, even though all the sales people at the stores I went to tried to push me in that direction. Those things just don’t have the same anachronistic flair as the old-school ones. And what if I don’t want to upload my recordings and share them with the whole world? As a result, I have begun a new habit as part of my regular research and writing routine: recording one-hour personalized audio cassette conversational real-life based “podcasts” for specific people. I have finished one already and am about to start working on the second one. So far it is a hell of a lot of fun, and it’s an exploration into physical objects as information/communication artifacts and real personalization and direct contact, as opposed to the sort of automated personalization which the internet affords you. Not that I have anything against the internets, but I do like to experiment in new-old methods. I’ll keep you posted as to where this experiment leads.
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[Reminder] Add a picture of my tape recorder to my “unpaid sponsors” page…
Creating the Analog Experience
(That’s it. Just a cool tagline that popped into my head.)
Sounds great for you and your friends, but your regular readers could use some new podcasts, too
Or you could become one of my friends who I send these things to!
I’m thinking of starting a sort of Grateful-Dead-style tape trading network for people to distribute these things amongst one another… as kind of a complementary real world alternative to podcasts and the internet.
Count me in. This stuff works. Long story, my Mom tape recorded religious singing from her Bible College in the 1970’s and wound up using them in the 2000’s for her cable TV show. A wine with a 30 year vintage could be great or vinegar. I’ll let you know how they hold up in 30 years.
Email me you’re address. You can be third.