Back-Flipping to Flip Phones

BRB! I am getting a call from the year 2000

Happy Saturday everybody!

It’s been an exciting week for me! Almost the end of the month and I am all charged up!

I hope your chaai tastes better than any other day today, because today we are walking down the good-old memory lane- hang in there because you’re going to love it!

<Alexa, play Lag Ja Gale by Lata Mangeshkar>

First things first, I finally purchased my first “feature“ flip phone and I can’t keep calm!!

Yes, exactly the same Flip Phone- but from Nokia

I am a Zillenial who grew up watching people using dumbphones, but never really got the chance to use one. By the time I started using a phone, smartphones were the coolest bricks - so I made the obvious choice!

But now that the new generation of “trend makers” is finally embracing outdated tech, I thought- why not! Let’s buy a flip phone and feel like I am in Gossip Girl S1!

The world is going gaga over flip phones!

Don’t believe me?

Talk about google searches - flip phone searches increased by 89% between 2018 and 2021.

India has 350 million users of dumbphones. The number of people updating from a feature phone to a smartphone has been declining year after year.

What’s interesting is why, in a time where A.I. has become “intuitive“, we are backflipping to flip phones, or rather, the so-called dumb phones.

What’s sparking this renaissance of vintage gadgets?

Hottest Trends

- Revival and Reforms -

While some classics like Jingle Bell Rock never leave, some fads- just like history - repeat themselves in a cyclic manner. The repetition is not linear. Neither does it have a pattern of repeating itself.

And what’s the medium of propagation of recreating such fads? Social media, of course! We live in a world where most of our choices are governed by the trends set by social media.

Think about it- I bought a flip phone because some woman named Sally in some part of Texas finds it cool and recommends it for better mental health- crazy but true.

Speaking of which, guess what!

DiGiCams are backk!!

Well, hello there, Retro Tech!

Yes- an outdated digital camera is the hottest gadget at the moment. It’s all over the internet- even its eBay searches increased 10% from 2021 to 2022! They call it the “Retro Tech“.

Apparently, Gen Z folks feel “excited“ to use a DigiCam because it is new and it stands out! This trend is on the trajectory of being as contagious as the craze of clicking mirror selfies using apple devices a decade ago- does it ring a bell?

Talk about the quality of the DigiCam pictures- they don’t mind a blurry and pixelated image because, in today’s era, everything’s aesthetically pleasing! When apps like Instagram and Snapchat revived these kinds of 90’s filters that gave us not very high-resolution images, netizens called it-

So why bother about the Low Res DigiCam pictures at all? It’s vintage & it’s adorable!

<Insert pink heart emoji >

Ta-Ta-Typewriters

Growing up, I used to wake up to the keys of a typewriter- my eyes lit up and I used to go straight to my dad’s room to just stare at the keys hitting the paper- like little stamps.

Don’t even get me started about how fascinated I was (still am) by typewriters, maybe because I was still in the process of learning cursive using my Apsara Extra Dark Pencil, and any other writing tool was prohibited.

Are we nostalgic or ARE WE NOSTALGIC?

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While buying typewriters is not really economically feasible for everyone, people have reformed them.

For the sound and feel of the keys, they made this keyboard that enables “mechanical typing“

But, we live in a world where riches are in the niches. So, people came up with a distraction-free writing device for writers-

Ladies & Gents, meet The Hemingwrite

This is a smart typewriter- it has a small screen where you can see what you are typing, you get that 90s keyboard sound effect and, most importantly, this operates with no internet- which means- distraction!

Welcome back, music players!

In this world of Spotify and YouTube music, where random characters decide which song we should listen to, I miss the randomness of FM Radio.

Banter by the Radio Jockey in between songs>>>>> Annoying Spotify Ads

And how can I forget the tape recorders and CD players?

Remember the time we used to rush to the store just to buy the cassette of the new album of our favorite movie and/or singer? *deep sigh* Good times!

The advent of smartphones kind of spoiled everything- the era of radio started fading away and pop culture was the new cool thing.

To revive those good-old times, Saregama - the musical giant- launched Carvaan in 2017.

It is a portable digital audio-player with in-built speakers. From R.D. Burman to Kishore Kumar, it has 5000 evergreen Hindi songs already installed. These songs were handpicked using big data. The first of its kind, Carvaan combines the best of digital technology and physical form factor. It became the go-to gift for parents and grandparents.

In Q1 of FY2022, Carvaan clocked sales of 45,000 units, and the company is innovating with new variants.

COVID variants? No! I’m talking about Carvaan variants!

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Now that I am so high on nostalgia (and chaai), I wonder what’s actually luring us toward Y2K (year 2000)? Is it self-improvement and better mental health, or is it like any other fad that’s just instagrammable and there’s nothing more to it?

Will it bring back the calm and slow way of life that we crave, or is it all just superficial??

Only time will tell…

Tell me what you think- are dumbphones a smart choice? You can reply to this email for doing so.

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Meanwhile, I’ll get back to playing Snake on my flip phone- my highest score is just 65 (don’t judge me) and I need to get better at it.

Have a great week!

Toodeloo!