The Revenge of Analog

An award-winning journalist’s ode to the analog world, from film photography to brick-and-mortar stores

“Insightful and entertaining . . . A powerful counternarrative to the techno-utopian belief that we would live in an ever-improving, all-digital world.” —The New York Times

Named a Best Book of the Year by TheNew York Times • Globe and Mail • National Post • Inc. • Toronto Life

An International Bestseller

In this vital book, David Sax makes the life-affirming case for a world that is centered less around technology and more around humanity. Even as technology becomes increasingly sleek and efficient, Sax details the limitations of a wholly virtual world and shows that people are turning back to tactile and bespoke options. He uncovers story after story of entrepreneurs, artisans, and creators who run bustling, profitable businesses not by selling apps or virtual solutions, but by dealing in tangible goods and ideas: paper notebooks, vinyl records, board games, and more. For anyone who has grown weary of overnight billionaires and social media market-disruptors, The Revenge of Analog is tangible proof that craftsmanship and authenticity still matter.

• Named a Best Book of the Year by New York Times • Globe and Mail • National Post • Inc. • Toronto Life

• An International Bestseller

• Longlisted for the ALA / Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence

• “Captivating . . . Sax provides an insightful and entertaining account of this phenomenon, creating a powerful counternarrative to the techno-utopian belief that we would live in an ever-improving, all-digital world.”

  Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

• “[The Revenge of Analog] is at its best when highlighting the surprising ways that the digital world has breathed new life into analogue forms.”

  The Financial Times

• “Beguiling . . . I defy you to read Sax’s book without wanting to buy a Moleskine, put an LP record on a turntable, or play a game of Scrabble with your friends. . . . At the outset of this review I compared the digital era to a fast-moving stream, which theoretically one could learn to navigate. But it’s more likely, I think, that we’re in a permanent flood stage, where we will have to somehow continue stretching and contorting ourselves to stay above the tide or else resign ourselves to drowning in the cascade of data. One is grateful to David Sax for mapping the eddies where we might, at least for a moment, find some stillness, respite, and fun.”

  New York Review of Books

• “No matter which side you’re on in the debate over digital technology, there’s something to cheer you in The Revenge of Analog.”

  New York Times Book Review

• “Sax’s lively, evocative prose conjures reminders of the physical world: record presses spit and heave, cameras satisfyingly click, and paper crinkles and smells in ways pleasingly familiar.”

  The Globe and Mail

• “A thoughtful look at the many ways in which analog has not been eliminated from the world but in many ways is still thriving. . . . Sax’s book reminds us that we live in an analog world. It is a good reminder that digital can only take us so far.”

  Yahoo! Finance

• “The better digital gets, the more important analog becomes. In this fun tour of modern culture, David Sax has collected hundreds of ways that an analog approach can improve our newest inventions. Sax’s reporting is eye-opening and mind-changing.”

  Kevin Kelly, founding executive editor of Wired and New York Times bestselling author of The Inevitable

• “David Sax has written a brilliant cri de coeur about the way things used to be, should be, and, increasingly, are becoming once again. The Revenge of Analog reminds us that it wasn't so long ago that records were vinyl, laces were double knotted and the mailbox at the end of the driveway was lovingly banged up. It’s a book that brings something even more rare than a perfect song at the perfect moment-hope.”

  Rich Cohen, cocreator of HBO’s Vinyl and New York Times bestselling author of Monsters

• “We all thought the digital age would be the end of analog media—and we were wrong. In this smart, funny, glorious book, David Sax explains why so many of us still crave the tactile, sensual experience of listening to music on vinyl records and taking notes with pencil and paper. Turn off your electronic devices, find a quiet place, and savor this remarkable book.”

  Dan Lyons, New York Times bestselling author of Disrupted

• “Hang on digital mavens, the real world ain’t going anywhere. In The Revenge of Analog, David Sax shows the continued importance of the physical stuff to how we live and work today.”

  Richard Florida, author of Rise of the Creative Class

• “The more advanced our digital technologies, the more we come to realize that reality rules. David Sax reassures us surviving members of team human that material existence is alive and well, and makes a compelling case for the reclamation of terra firma and all that comes with it.”

  Douglas Rushkoff, author of Present Shock

• “Here is a compulsively readable book after a Luddite’s heart. . . . Sax isn’t preaching a return to the pre-Industrial Age, but neither is he embracing the robot overlords. He thoughtfully, wisely, and honestly points out how analog experiences enhance digital creativity and how humans benefit from what both have to offer. Essential reading.”

  Booklist, Starred Review

• “A perky and well-illustrated . . . look at a discordantly retro cultural trend.”

  Kirkus Reviews

• “Sax’s message is that digital technology has certainly made life easier, but the analog technologies of old can make life more rich and substantial. This book has a calming effect, telling readers, one analog page at a time, that tangible goods, in all their reassuring solidity, are back and are not going anywhere.”

  Publishers Weekly