Files are worth saving

Why I’m still a fan of files
Plus: A slick Office alternative, an independent e-book store, and a great keyboard deal

Hey there! I’m Jared Newman, a longtime tech journalist, and this is Advisorator, my weekly tech advice newsletter. Did someone share this newsletter with you? Sign up to get it every Tuesday.
About 10 years ago, a prominent tech executive confidently informed me that computer files would become obsolete.
The exec was Bret Taylor, who at the time was building a Microsoft Word alternative called Quip. (He’d previously overseen the birth of Google Maps and served as Facebook’s CTO, and later became the co-CEO of Salesforce.) Taylor argued that Quip and other online-first services such as Google Docs, Netflix, and Spotify were making file management unnecessary, and that conventional formats such as .DOC or .MP3 would eventually seem as antiquated as the floppy disk.
The prediction has in many ways proven accurate. File management is now a foreign concept to an entire generation of young tech users, and you have to be a special kind of nerdy (like me) to consume media without relying entirely on streaming services. If someone emails you a Word document to edit, you might be more annoyed than if they’d linked to a Google Doc.
But I’ve always found the humble computer file to be more than just an occasional nuisance. I enjoy using apps that produce easily-accessible files on my devices, because they’re under my command and can’t be taken away. That’s not the case with many of the online services we rely on.
Unfashionable as it seems, this philosophy is gaining fresh life in some tech circles as people reckon with the trade-offs of a file-free future.
Why files still matter
Streaming services can remove content and impose new access restrictions. Facebook and Google can lock people out of their accounts by mistake, rendering photos and communications inaccessible. Useful online resources may one day vanish from the web without warning. Preserving your own files can be a countermeasure against these kinds of scenarios.
But beyond just data preservation, files provide a kind of freedom to choose the best tool for the job.
These days I do most of my writing in Obsidian, which stores documents on my computer in the Markdown file format. If Obsidian goes away or I just want to try a different solution, I can open those files in another Markdown editor without having to convert, download, or transfer anything. Same goes with photos: While I automatically back up my phone’s camera roll to Google Photos, I also keep copies in OneDrive and on my computer. That means I can try out other solutions (like the offline-first Mylio) without going through Google’s time-consuming export process.
Perhaps best of all, a file collection says something about you. It’s an all-encompassing representation of your digital life that—unlike most things in tech—becomes more valuable with time.
Dig deep into my computer, for instance, and you’ll find a folder called “OldComputer.” This is one of my most cherished digital time capsules, a treasure trove of forgotten photos, college music projects, early web creations, and embarrassing AOL Instant Messenger chat logs that I apparently thought were worth keeping. Rifling through these old folders evokes feelings that Google Docs and Spotify can never replicate.
Action items

I’m not saying you need to drop all your online-first services in favor of strict file zealotry. I certainly haven’t. But if you value more control over your digital footprint, consider some ways to cultivate a file collection as part of that:
- Cobalt.tools is a free web-based utility that converts content from YouTube, Instagram, and other online sources into downloadable video and audio files.
- PlayOn, which I’ve written plenty about on the cord cutting beat, can save videos from streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu.
- Keep an offline archive of articles you find useful. The Single File browser extension can save web pages as self-contained HTML files that are readable offline, and Obsidian has a free web clipper that works in tandem with its desktop app.
- If you’re a big notetaker, consider apps that store your notes in open formats that other apps can access. Obsidian is one, but there are others, like Joplin and Logseq.
- It’s not for everyone, but building a music file collection has been one of the more rewarding pastimes I’ve undertaken in the last 10 years. I buy a lot of albums on Bandcamp—which makes artists more money than streaming services—along with the occasional CD, which I immediately digitize.
Meanwhile, I’m glad to see that the idea of owning your files is gathering momentum. Obsidian CEO Steph Ango calls this philosophy file over app. Matt Birchler calls it downloading the things you love. However you label it, I think the idea is worth cherishing even if big tech execs would prefer that you didn’t.
More tech advice awaits
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Thanks for reading!
The response to last week’s newsletter about my plans for 2025 was super encouraging, with a lot of positive comments and even a bunch of new paid subscribers. (Thank you!) That makes me think I’m on the right track, and I hope this week’s newsletter feels it’s continuing in the same direction.
Also: I’m getting started on a multi-part guide to backing up your stuff. I’d love to hear any questions you have on that topic so I can make sure to address them.
As always, you can reply to this email to get in touch.
Until next week,
Jared
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