Analog.
No, really, I'm serious. It really is about analog. For years and years, everyone who has had any experience with technology has been striving to create perfection and flawless beauty in every sense of the words. Digital is the best way to do this – it's calculated, cold, and mathematical. It's predictable and reassuring. But humans aren't digital. Our hands tremble; they don't stay steady like a robot's mechanical arm. Our brains aren't perfect: they often forget things we want to remember, and remember things we want to forget. Our walking isn't straight. Many of us have less-than-flawless health and vision. We're not completely symmetrical, and look pretty ugly without clothing.
In other words, humans are imperfect.
But, perfection, while it is the antithesis to imperfection, is paradoxically horrible for humans. Our brains are wired to expect change and differentiation from the routine. We like good surprises, and monotony gets dull. Unlike a computer, our neurons are always firing and active rather than passive, so we hate passivity.
So, isn't perfection just the antithesis of everything that makes the world beautiful? A lovely red leaf hanging on a tree long after the winter solstice. The knotted wood on a piano. The fingerprints on a record. Isn't perfection what takes the life out of life?
As we continue to automate, we really, seriously need to ask ourselves a question: will we accept convenience for mediocrity?
Sadly, consumer choices and corporate brainwashing have shown in the past that we will.
And that won't change in the future. Enjoy your handmade coffee now, because it will get rarer and rarer in the future. And with every imperfect barista replaced with a perfect machine, we'll lose a little bit of what makes humans...
...humans.