Generation Z loves to own technology that is either from their childhood or before they were born. The interest may come from the trendiness that owning technology with value now that it has gotten older may bring.
There is a certain nostalgia we experience from the point-and-shoot cameras of our childhood. Vinyl records have a nice and different sound. Flip phones, which we saw in movies from the 2000s, let us escape social media and notifications for a while. Lastly, retro consoles of yesterday let us explore earlier storylines of our favorite characters.
Vinyl and Music Streaming
Many artists are bringing back vinyl. Streaming on platforms such as Apple Music and Spotify is still popular and portable. Generation Z finds the retro look of owning a record player and collecting vinyl trendy.
Vinyl was the popular commercial distribution of pop music from the 1950s until the 1980s. Today, Gen Z is using the same analog format made of polyvinyl chloride. They listen to artists such as Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, and Olivia Rodrigo.
“There’s just a ton of kids, a lot of teenagers, and a lot of people in their early 20’s,” Eric Jacobson states. Co-owner of Recycled Records in Reno, Nevada, says, “There are children that collect records that are 8. It’s not even uncommon; they come in with their parents, and they’re all over the racks”
Gen-Z likes the vintage feeling of the records with their favorite artists right at their fingertips. But there’s more to it than trendiness. “They really like the sound that comes from a vinyl album,” Bass said. “The high-quality audio is something that we see across all different generations.”
Bass continues by talking about popular artists that have jumped on the trend. “Taylor Swift has done very well over the last year. She and her label have done a great job of really prioritizing the vinyl release and making sure that fans really have an appetite for them and they give them different versions of albums in different art on the covers.”
The desire for nostalgic vinyl is benefiting artists’ income. According to Music 3.0 Music Industry Blog, “Physical product sales have become a lifeline for artists in an industry dominated by streaming. The revenue from selling a single vinyl record or a piece of merchandise can far exceed that from thousands of streams.”
Vinyl records are more expensive to manufacture but sell for $20-$35. Whereas streams can amount to a matter of cents. For artists who want the money they deserve for their music, vinyl records benefit the buyer, allowing them to be trendy and the artist in their income.
Nostalgic Flip Phones After iPhones
Gen Z, as well as notable celebrities, are trading in their iPhones for flip phones. They are bringing back Nokia, Razer, and BlackBerry as alternatives to smartphones. In a world pressured by social media and constantly bombarded with notifications, the flip phone has been the less overwhelming option.
There is the constant anxiety of needing to be reachable and needing to check your phone as soon as you get a notification. A lot of Gen-Z is tired of the overstimulation of owning a smartphone.
In 2021, Justin Bieber revealed that he didn’t actually own a cell phone because he wanted to limit who could reach him. Instead, Justin said that he only owned an iPad that he could use to communicate when he needed it.
“I definitely learned how to have boundaries, and I just don’t feel like I owe anybody anything,” Justin told Billboard. “That has helped me to be able to just say no and just be firm in it and know that my heart [wants] to help people, but I can’t do everything. I want to sometimes, but it’s just not sustainable.”
For some, this is just a trendy and nostalgic item from their childhood. A lot of Gen Z is trying to replicate the trends of the early 2000s. In doing this, they are switching to the popular Motorola Razer flip phone, particularly the pink version showcased in movies such as Mean Girls, owned by the character Regina George. Again, the flip phone brings a practical and trendy alternative to smartphones.
Bringing Back Point and Shoot Cameras
In a time where great quality phone cameras exist this nostalgic switch is just meant to be for trendy purposes. a lot of people like the fuzzy and saturated look with the flash of the point-and-shoot camera. it gives that “vintage feel.”
For 20-year-old Anya Chigak, this rings true. “I’m very into antiques and vintage,” she said. “I work at an antique store and I collect records and vintage clothes and cassettes, so I’ve always liked the older look of photos better.”
If you go on TikTok and search for point-and-shoot cameras, you will see tons of videos with them. Some are recommendation videos of the best cameras at different price points. Some videos show the different qualities of cameras and the photos the users have taken to compare them.
While TikTok is more informative about the cameras you can get and their quality, Instagram girlies use point-and-shoot cameras purely because they are trendy and the easiest to use.
According to Fazackarley’s “The Best Cameras for Instagrammers,” “They take away a lot of the decisions, and they work out your exposure and calculate the best settings for your pictures. All you do is point the camera at your subject, compose it, and take a picture. Everything else is done in-camera.”
According to No-Digital, “Kendall Jenner regularly posts images of herself holding a Contax t2. This is a very esthetically pleasing-looking point-and-shoot film camera, which is one of the reasons point-and-shoot cameras became increasingly popular.”
Retro Gaming Consoles
While some people are playing the latest games on PS5, others love the nostalgic feel of retro consoles. There are avid Nintendo collectors who have their 1985 Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), 1989 Nintendo Gameboy, which is no longer in production, and 1991 Nintendo Super Nintendo.
Nintendo isn’t the only console that people look to collect. There are also nostalgic consoles from Atari, Sega, and Sony’s PlayStation line. This shared interest has sparked a lot of YouTubers to share their console collections, play games, and show off their gaming rooms as a part of their hobby.
One of these YouTubers is Game Sack. One of the segments on this YouTube channel is Console Crunch. In three hours or less, he explores several consoles in one video and shows you a game that you can play on it. Making these videos the perfect mix between a review and a let’s play that’s informative and entertaining.
People love to play retro video games. In an article by How to Geek Aran Folsom explains why he liked to play these games so much. He states, “When asking the people around me why they play retro video games, they all gave the same reason—nostalgia.”
Some of his other reasons were the low cost, taking a break from the contemporary titles, exploring your hero’s mysterious past, discovering new games, and introducing new titles to other gamers.
Gen-Z and Nostalgia
There is a certain trendiness behind collecting items that are older than not everyone else has. It’s also because the value of the item has gone up as far as cost.
One of the main reasons is the nostalgia we experience. There is something comforting about being able to own a piece of technology like a point-and-shoot camera that maybe a family member would take pictures with when you were younger.
Owning technology from another time period can take you to another time in your life that isn’t now, and it’s an escape. It may be a time period that you were a part of or another that you weren’t in that allows you to experience what older people have!