cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/10105454
• Gen Z’s nostalgia for the early 2000s is sparking a revival of landline phones, seen as a retro-chic escape from the digital age.
• Influenced by '90s and 2000s TV shows, young adults like Nicole Randone and Sam Casper embrace landlines for their vintage appeal.
• Urban Outfitters capitalizes on Gen Z’s love for nostalgia by selling retro items like landline phones alongside fashion trends from the '90s and 2000s.
I can kinda understand the feeling. My personal land line phone as a teen (cuz my bedroom had a phone line) was like the old 1800’s style rotary phone where the mic was stationary and the hand unit was just a cup for your ear. It felt fancier.
I don’t get why millennials and older generations mock zoomers for these trends. What’s wrong with enjoying old technology and childhood nostalgia? People are so needlessly petty when it comes to younger generations and their interests.
If it matters, the mocking is not a commonly held attitude. When I read nostalgia, my response was ‘that doesn’t sound so bad’. Besides, wired handsets have their own charm. We still have a few around.
Elder Millennial here, I hate the whole mocking of generations and hoped ours wouldn’t do it as much, but I’m still seeing people of my generation doing so. We did stuff others might call dumb too, or just stuff for the hell of it.
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It’s especially weird when you see these videos where they put very young people with some tech from the 90s, and the young person won’t know what such a tech is.
Like, the classic is a floppy disk. They fell out of use in the mid 2000s. So someone born in the mid 2000s likely never saw one in use. And why should they? The ironic part is that people being impressed that a 18 year old doesn’t know what a floppy disk is, also doesn’t realize that floppys only become commercially available since the 70s. So a technology that had a lifespan of 30 to 40 years isn’t widely recognize… yeah… super impressive.
I watched a few videos like that. It’s OK most of the time. Those videos help see things from the perspective of the younger generation. It also helps you appreciate how much the world has changed.
Their confusion is understandable, if not amusing. It’s fascinating to see some kids figure things out in a short time. Yet others have unreal knowledge about things they may have only heard about.
The only really annoying part is when some kids mock the elder generation for the ‘primitive’ tech and lifestyle they’ve had. Older tech may be primitive, but they were essential steps to what they have now. Even more, those older tech were things you could tinker with and learn - unlike the soldered and glued black boxes we have today. Besides, sometimes a little less tech is good for your emotional wellbeing.
What I learned from those videos is that those kids are as diverse as any other generation. Only their perspectives have changed.
You know what, you completely changed my opinion of these videos. I now think I had an unnecessary negative view on these.
This really made my day. Thanks kind stranger!
It’s very satisfying to hear that you made someone happy. Regards!
Not as strange or pointless as it might seem at first glance, I’m reminded of this article from years ago comparing the experience of a modern phone with the old handsets: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/08/why-people-hate-making-phone-calls/401114/
What does Gen Z suffer from even more than the rest of us? Loneliness, isolation. So using a phone that is designed with physical comfort foremost is a way of reclaiming a sense of social connection and physical touch (“reach out and touch someone”), even when distances between callers are great. And touching the cord, again, a way of feeling the connection with the other person, which in a world of wireless devices isn’t possible – there’s nothing there but empty space. It’s not just about twirling the cord.
This isn’t to suggest there are no benefits to smartphones, and others here suggest earbuds to improve call quality and ergonomics. But the fact is modern smartphones are designed to do many things OK-ish in compromise, but nothing so well as the other devices they replace (phones, TVs, calculators - remember those?, flashlights, keyboards, etc etc.)
But the fact is modern smartphones are designed to do many things OK-ish in compromise, but nothing so well as the other devices they replace (phones, TVs, calculators - remember those?, flashlights, keyboards, etc etc.)
Weird! Am I the only one who hasn’t completely replaced old equipment? I have all of those with me, including landline, radios, flashlights, TV, scientific calculators, keyboards, etc.
And as you mentioned, I prefer those individual equipment over smartphones unless the convenience really matters (like when traveling).
Awesome grounded explanation!
And phones don’t indeed replace many other devices. Like camaras too, for example. If you want to do really good photography, you actually need different kinds of lenses. Although lenses exist for smartphones, they are not that widespread, and using a camara is therefore still important.
Also a big point is the ergonomics of it. Handling a camara is much easier for long and complex photography sessions. Same with having a calculator at hand. It’s easier to punch numbers in a physical keyboard. Or to handle a flashlight, or using a real keyboard to write a document. The list goes on and on and on.
Oh yes, my phone is nearly impossible to use as a camera, between the inherently awkward shape, the case, and the long processing delay. Does it work? Yes. But it’s not much fun. I love the ergonomic grip(s) of my DSLR and how every button and dial is in a natural position.
That’s another thing we miss, plain old tactile feedback of buttons, dials, sliders, switches.
About buttons, it’s also good they’re going back on car interior design. Driving without physical buttons is just dangerous.
Haha I’m driving my 13-year-old car like, what you all don’t have buttons?!
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Think about it - corded phones died because we needed to walk around and talk. I mean, you all remember how ridiculously long some of those cords could get so that people could do light chores. Then wireless landlines became a thing (and I swear the audio quality seemed to drop) and as cellphones became more predominant they were almost phased out entirely - certainly phased out of necessity.
But now two decades or so later we’re just in one spot all the time again. If we’re not at work we’re at home and if we’re not cooking or cleaning we’re probably just in one spot (likely at the computer or the TV). So it makes sense to me, although I do wonder how much of this is more of a micro trend than Gen Z bringing back landlines lol.
Can we possibly have a better source for this “story”. Because that one’s not reliable.
Although in reality it’s not really a story is it
‘GenZ is emotionally attached to things from their childhood’. You can replace GenZ with any other generation and it will still work. The stupid article is about mocking one generation to create outrage among others.
This seems like a dumb tiktok trend or some shit. It’s hard to get by in this world without a cellphone
But I just wish anyone would still want to talk on the phone. I love chatting with friends for an hour or so on the phone but everyone hates it now. Quick random texts just feel so much less personal. Ah well
It doesn’t say anything about getting rid of their cell phone for one. The article says quite the opposite actually.
While Gen Zers definitely don’t need a landline — still relying on their cellphones for virtually everything — it’s the aesthetic of “2000s nostalgia” that makes the relic so attractive to them.
My landline have been turned off completely.
I live in an apartment building that was constructed in '22 and a landline wasn’t even an option anymore, it’s all just gigabit ethernet.
You can get a VoIP phone that works over the Internet
Sure, but it’s not a landline anymore
They’re probably hooked on wired sets - not necessarily landlines.
