The Trouble With Making Everything Easier

The Trouble With Making Everything Easier Is analogue making a comeback? Maybe. But perhaps that isn't quite the right question. In this episode of Stationery Freaks, Helen and Rob wander and meander through notebooks, video games (yes, you read that right), typewriters, old cars, AI-generated music, writing retreats, Hobonichis, Moleskines and the pleasure of making things slightly harder than they need to be. Helen has become unexpectedly absorbed in an online game. Of course, this comes complete with colour-coded plans and strategies in her Hobonichi. Rob has repurposed the writing bureau specifically for finishing his squirrel book — and then written exactly zero words in it. There is a pattern somewhere in here. We've spent years removing friction from everything. Digital tools make things faster. AI makes things easier. Algorithms make decisions for us. We're told to optimise everything and digital is wonderfully good at doing that optimisation. And yet some of the things we value most seem to require the opposite. And maybe that's really what people are reclaiming. A notebook takes longer than a notes app. A typewriter is considerably slower than a laptop. An old car requires actual participation and focus. Sketching before opening a computer gives an idea time to breathe. Even spending an hour playing a game can feel more restorative than another hour scrolling. Maybe it's not a rise of just analogue. Maybe analogue is just one of the ways to regain some control over what we actually think. Well, that's where we ended up anyway - of course, it wasn't a straight line to get there. Along the way we discuss: Rob's Department of Interesting Things Helen's beloved Hobonichi A fascinating shop called Labour and Wait Moleskines and banning digital Apple Notes for voice memos and early drafts As well as writing rituals, the appeal of analogue travel kits, and the excellent YouTube channel of John Pattison. It's a slightly rambling conversation, as usual, about stationery that turns into something else entirely: what happens when we stop trying to make every minute productive? And whether a little friction might actually be good for us. Grab the newsletter for more about this episode. https://stationeryfreaks.substack.com/