Saturday, January 31, 2009

DIGITAL OR PHYSICAL?

Digital or physical? Manual or automatic? Do I follow the trend or do I stick to the old ways? Cash, cheque or credit card? The old government or a new government (hmmm)? In a world that is constantly changing, it can be quite difficult sometimes to make decisions regarding your decision. It is true that we have to make way for new inventions, innovations and ideas which make our lives more convenient but certain things have yet to prove themselves to be worthy to be embraced as part of our lives. When I was growing up, it was common to see music stores selling vinyl. Then, it was the cartridge. Followed by audio tapes and CDs. Now, we don't even have to go to the music store anymore to buy music. It's all in digital form which can be downloaded and we don't even have to pay with cash. Even credit cards are now considered as old fashion. Now, we have debit cards. For teenagers who don't have either credit or debit cards, they can now opt for MOLePoints, a form of online payment system which enables them to buy and pay for stuff via the Internet. I would say that this form of payment is some sort of middle-of-the-road solution for the cash or credit card question. How effective it is remains unknown but time will tell. I remember a concept explained by my professor in a Philosophy class during my college days, a concept introduced by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, a German philosopher. Hegel came up with the thesis, anti-thesis and synthesis concept. You can read it up in wikipedia if you are interested. Of course, there are a lot of people who don't agree with this concept and I agree that this concept is not applicable for all situations. Still, it's not wrong to come up with a compromise when you are dealing with two extremes. As for me, I still stick to my vinyls, old tapes and CDs. I still like the smell of fresh notes from the bank and the sound of coins jingling in my pocket. On the other hand, I am done with my video tapes and I have embraced DVDs since its arrival. I also enjoy typing using the computer compared to the typewriter (which I have to when I do my annual personal assessment). The only thing I can say about my choices is I want to have the best of everything and the best is what I dictate it to be.