Digital as analogous

[mhv]

Here's where you can shout "hare-brained" but you can't devolve into a D vs A thread!

How useful are the digital tools for explaining in an interactive manner the basic principles that underlie analog photography? OK, these principles also apply to digital photo, but suppose you want to take a shortcut in your explanation of film-based photo processes.

For example, let's say you want to give a quickie explanation of N+ development, and you wedge the curve upwards a bit. Or you want to explain spectral sensitivity and you play with the channel mixer.

I was rather impressed by the interface of LightCraft's Lightzone tool because it used analog metaphors instead of pure digital controls, so I guess my question amounts to the possibility of creating an "analog photography simulator".

[Pragmatist]

Many are already in place. Dodge and burn. Masks. Diffusion, perspective control, etcetera. I suspect that there will never be a great conflation of traditional vs digital processing jargon, as the hallmark of any particular endeavor is to generate its own unique jargonized language....