Is Digital Best?

You know, digital technology can show any interface it likes, but as the real or analogue world is how we relate to reality – not yet being creatures who exist solely as energy fields (Such as ‘Devices’ on the forum) – we need an interface to control and shape the digits.
I have two examples – if you are reading this early in the week, then the video up there to the upper right as you are looking at the screen shows a rock gig pass and if you click it, you get the Midas XL8 mixing desk as the TA video product blog and it ain’t no April fool! Thing is, the desk encompasses a range of effects and powerful DSP, with literally racks and rack of the same SHARC 32 bit Analog Devices chips in the them as is found singly in the Audison Bit One, which just won a coveted Talk Audio magazine State of the Art award. It’s up the top of the review tree right now.
As I watched, Big Mick felt he needed to adjust the vocal microphone EQ. A click and a screen showed the racks of 31 bands equalisers, another and the vox EQ came up, then he had to fiddle with one of the two trackballs to adjust the virtual fader and click it again. All this took at least ten times longer than reaching out to a rack of Klark Techniks and doing it by feel while you look at something else.
Likewise, those of you who are regular readers, will be wondering when on Earth the Son of BoomZilla comix will be starting. And the answer is imminently. The reason for the delay has been the trackball again. Deeply superior to a mouse and looking like the Missile Command video game control that gave it birth, it’s still crap versus the horribly expensive Intuous state of the art drawing tablets that are an analogue of the ‘real’ artists’ interface. Pens and brushes. As soon as we have a couple of strips under the belt, we can better equip our artist and it’ll be easier and a load faster. But it’ll be here soon.
When you get to see the art, do take a second,  third and even a fourth gander as there are people, characters and tiny detailed references for the aficionado in every bit of Julian Sewell’s world. He’s quite deliciously unhinged in his very own dry but slightly surreal way. I know you are going to love it and will agree with me that the wait will have been worth it.
But then I would say that, wouldn’t I?