A friend of mine has a cellphone with a ringtone that goes "brring-brring, brring-brring". Some of us remember when phones sounded like that.
Old is the new new
Here’s an unexpected plot twist: Gen Z is embracing old and analog tech.
Gen Z, aka "zoomers", refers to people born between 1997 and 2012. (I had to look that up.) This generation grew up with the internet, smartphones, and social media. They learned to swipe before they could write.
The new trend includes flip phones, vinyl records, CDs, paper planners, and stand-alone alarm clocks. Oh, and point-and-click film cameras. Kodak has seen a surge in film sales, with demand doubling in recent years.
It’s motivated by the desire to escape the constant connectivity of smartphones. That’s an idea we can all support. Aren’t you tired of seeing everyone everywhere staring at their phones?
Phones on a leash
It goes even further. Corded landline phones are becoming popular.
A US company, Tin Can, is leading a revival of real landlines, especially for children. Their phones look like classic corded models, but run on VoIP instead of traditional phone lines. A new market for Telkom?
Some people buy vintage telephones, and connect them to smartphones with bluetooth adaptors. Others imitate the landline experience by fixing their smartphones to walls. Ah, the thrill of being trapped in one spot while you talk to your friend!
(By the way, we have some really old, original phones. I recently sold an antique hand-crank phone, made in Sweden in 1912. Maybe I should add bluetooth adaptors, and sell them on TikTok.)
Vintage goes viral
The desire to disconnect is real. But these same people are posting videos of their vintage tech on social media. It’s ironic that TikTok and Instagram are making old tech popular.
For example, Catherine Goetze is a content creator. She started a company that makes and sells rotary phones with Bluetooth adaptors. I was gob-smacked by her videos. Are landlines that old that the sound of a ringing physical phone is a novelty? And she uses voice recognition on her smartphone to dial out on the physical phone.
It’s natural to romanticize the past. It’s just that the past for zoomers is not quite as past as the past for Gen X and baby boomers. (Read that again, it does make sense. And yes, I had to look up the terms.)
Nostalgia meets reality
The great thing about old phones was that you could slam the phone down on an unwanted caller. Stabbing the "end call" icon doesn’t provide the same level of anger management therapy.
But it’s not quite as romantic as it seems. Texting on a button phone was a workout for your thumbs. You had to press “7” four times to type an “S”.
And then there’s film. Some of us remember paying to develop a roll that consisted of one decent photo, and a lot of blurry shots. But if this reduces that irritating need of people to take selfies everywhere, I’m all for it.
Intentional living
Most people don’t want to live in a world without modern technology. I, for one, appreciate GPS apps. I don’t want to go back to using map books and getting lost.
But we can, and should, be more selective about our use of technology. I hate to use the term "mindfulness", but that’s what we need. Intentional living, instead of mindlessly watching the next reel, and the next reel, and the next reel. Maybe I need to go back to paper and pencil when I want to play Sudoku. I’m not sure about Wordle.
I’d love to hear your comments.