The way of the dinosaur

I'd like to think I'm a progressive guy. Tradition is valuable, but it isn't the be all and end all when it comes to utility or philosophy. I don't believe that everything was better the way it used to be. Nevertheless, it occurs to me that I am swimming upstream as far as some things are concerned.

1. Not only do I read the daily newspaper, I also subscribe to it. Reports of declining and aging readership have dogged the industry for years, and most of the people I know get their news online, not delivered to their front door. I read plenty on the net too, but I'm still fond of the print product. (Don't get me started on those who would push us to read books on digital displays.) I read a lot as a kid and developed the habit of reading the paper each day, especially when I would put in a couple hours at the grain elevator--the family business--after school. The print version isn't going anywhere yet, but I suspect it will be gone sooner than later.

2. I prefer buying CDs to downloaded music. I'll leave it to others to debate the quality between what you can buy on disc and what you purchase from iTunes, but I like having that physical copy. (Is it any surprise why I had to break myself of pack rat tendencies when I moved?) Part of it's practical. One hard drive crash and an entire collection could be gone. I'm certainly not opposed to digital music storage. I love that I can grab my iPod and not have to make any decisions over what CDs to take on a trip. I can take them all (or the ones I've ripped). Still, I like being able to look at the cover art and liner notes, even if I don't handle the CDs as much as I used to.

3. When it comes to church services, give me traditional over contemporary. I've been looking for a new church since I moved--there's an entry in itself--so I'm well attuned to the fact that I am out of step with most my age on this subject. All I need to do is look around me on Sundays and see that I'm almost always one of the youngest people there as long as I remove kids from the equation. After four traditional services at four different churches, I decided I'd give one of the contemporary services a chance and see if my demographic was better represented. Sure enough, it was like night and day with who was in the pews. This service was better than others I've attended, although would it kill them to "rock out" to the old standard hymns once in awhile? That's one of my big sticking points with contemporary services: the music is often flaccid, particularly in comparison to the stout songs of yesteryear.

4. So help me, I always type in http:// when entering URLs. I know I don't need to do it. The browser will get me to my destination perfectly well without those seven keystrokes, but I do it anyway.

5. I wear a watch. I wouldn't have considered that to be something on the way out, but I read a newspaper article suggesting that cell phones and iPods, among other electronic devices, do well enough as timepieces for people. That sounds reasonable to me, although maybe watches will hang around as a fashion accessory after they're less essential for their primary purpose.