In only a few decades, there have been some major disruptions in the technological devices we use for recreation. Over the years, vinyl records, cassettes, CDs, and mp3-players have all been replaced by collective streaming on music platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music. VHS tapes and DVDs became obsolete when online streaming providers, such as Netflix, came around. App store games could replace the Game Boy, and the flip phone evolved into a smartphone.
Every single one of these physical products was suddenly available in just one digital device that could fit inside a pocket.
The shift from physical to digital media has been transformative for the way we navigate our society. Digital often means better, faster, more convenient, and sometimes even cheaper. However, society seems to be reverting back to these obsolete analog devices, especially Gen Z (Vega, 2025; Peppin, 2023). According to Muratore (2024), there has been a 300% increase in vinyl sales between 2016 and 2023. The producer of Nokia phones, HDM Global, has reported that their market share of flip phones has doubled between 2021 and 2022 (HDM.com, 2023). Data also shows a case of revival on the market of retro games (marketreportanalytics.com, 2025).
But what are the causes of this resurgence of retro devices among the younger generation, some of which we have never even used before their digital disruptors came into our lives?
First, there seems to be a lack of physicality (Vega, 2025). Even though a smartphone itself is a tactile device, the media and applications on it are not. Many retro tech proponents appear to find the physical action of, for example, putting a DVD in a DVD player, part of their overall consuming experience, something a touchscreen and digital apps cannot give (Baraniuk, 2024).
Additionally, we also seem to want ownership over our media, something our digital devices often do not provide (Tracy, 2025). When listening to a song on Spotify, or watching a movie on Netflix, we have access to said song or movie, but we own nothing. A platform can decide to remove any of its content without users’ permission, even though they are paying for their access. Just like the vision of Web 3.0, we are aiming to revive our sense of ownership. However, instead of sinking further into digital innovation like Web 3.0 is doing with Metaverse, we are turning back to what already was.
Lastly, we desire to move further away from our ever digitizing world. It can be hard to feel like one can ever “turn off” from the digital noise of constant notifications (Pinsker, 2022) and ads when everything is captured in one smart device. Retro tech offers us a moment to truly unplug, while still being able to be entertained.
Personally, I have been experimenting with doing the same: dusting off the old cd and dvd player at home, looking through the DVD sections in second hand stores and borrowing from the library. However, I would also find it hard to completely give up on the incredible possibilities that the digital world inside my smartphone has to offer. Perhaps our generation has the privilege to choose the best of both worlds.
References
Baraniuk, C. (2024, 4 juli). Obsolete, but not gone: The people who won’t give up floppy disks. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240510-floppy-disks-why-some-people-are-still-in-love-with-this-obsolete-computer-storage-technology
HDM.com. (2023, 30 mei). Gen Z and Millennials are flipping out over Flip phones. HMD – Human Mobile Devices. https://www.hmd.com/en_ie/press/nokia-2660-flip-new-edition?srsltid=AfmBOooPOOMbN61ed_Z1-Pr0IjMEjHyMlb28H8ICOjOFnxZsFaPHZN4V
Muratore, C. (2024, 19 november). The Growth of Vinyl and the Impact of Independent Record Stores on Vinyl Sales. Luminate. https://luminatedata.com/blog/the-growth-of-vinyl-and-the-impact-of-independent-record-stores-on-vinyl-sales/
Marketreportanalytics.com. (2025, 10 april). Retro Video Games Report 2025: Growth Driven by Government Incentives and Partnerships. https://www.marketreportanalytics.com/reports/retro-video-games-76465#summary
Peppin, H. (2023, 1 februari). Why is retro technology coming back? Harper’s Bazaar Australia. https://harpersbazaar.com.au/vintage-technology-is-back-in-fashion/
Pinsker, J. (2022, 14 januari). I’m Not Sorry for My Delay. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2022/01/not-sorry-for-my-delay/621264/
Tracy, M. (2025, 13 juli). When Streaming Won’t Cut It and You Need the DVD. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/13/movies/dvds-blurays-physical-media.html
Vega, N. (2025, 18 maart). From Polaroid to vinyl, Gen Z is making retro tech one of 2025’s biggest trends: ‘These things just have more value’. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/15/from-polaroid-to-vinyl-gen-z-is-embracing-retro-tech.html
You raise a thoughtful point about our generation witnessing Web 3.0 while also having the privilege of choosing between old and new devices. What struck me in the reading was how the resurgence of retro tech is not only about nostalgia but also about reclaiming physicality and ownership in an increasingly digital world. However, I find myself wondering, how sustainable these resurfaces really are. If more people deliberately opt out of constant upgrades or turn to “vintage/obsolete” devices like vinyl players or flip phones, what could that imply for both tech innovation and production systems? Would manufacturers shift toward smaller, niche markets, or could this create a parallel economy of durable, retro-inspired products?
Though, there is another side of the coin. Retro devices definitely promise a sense of control and, as you write, an escape from digital overload, yet their production and consumption still tie into global supply chains with their own environmental costs. So, while the return to vinyl or DVDs may feel liberating and nostalgic on an individual level, should we also ask what collective implications this has for sustainability and resource use?
Wow, you described this feeling really well! The point about unplugging really stood out to me. The boundaries between real experiences and digital experiences is so blurry when using smartphones. Maybe we, as a generation, just want to slow down and experience more of the world around us by disconnecting from the fast paced digital world. As you said in your conclusion, it is still very beneficial to have access to those digital products and services and I don’t think that we will completely abandon that, but it is nice to have a choice. Actively choosing to go for ‘the experience’ makes it more worthwile in my opinion. To be honest, reading a book and putting it up on the shelf after finishing it just isn’t matched by any digital version to me.
Though I am still convinced that some people may only use a retro device as a fashion statement 🙂