ABSTRACT
Gianmario Borio uses the example of the wooden iPhone speaker to illustrate the persistence of analogue in a digital world. Analogue is supposed to be dead, long ago swept into obscurity by digital technologies. The rising popularity of vinyl records and other analogue technologies is often attributed to their anti-digital qualities: their supposed warmth of sound versus the cold sterility of digital, or the appealing material and visual qualities of analogue formats versus the insubstantiality of the zeroes and ones of MP3s. In order to explore this relationship he offer two case studies: one that focuses on listeners, and one on performers, and both of which revolve around vinyl records. The broader purpose of these case studies, is to explore the intersections of music, technology and culture, and to understand culture as a crucial force that shapes our musical engagement with technology.
