Today, almost everything can be streamed, photographed, or downloaded with the press of a button. Yet over the past few years, there has been an increased interest among young people in older technologies. Many CDs, vinyl records, and digital cameras are finding new life in the hands of young collectors.
For some, the appeal is nostalgia. For others, it is the experience of engaging with something physical and taking a break from the digital world.
“I got started collecting because I got a cheap CD player from an antique store,” Camas High School (CHS) junior Dicey Delano said. “Then I got a record player for Christmas that same year and just started my collection.”
What was originally a small hobby became a way to experience art more meaningfully.
“I definitely listen to music and take pictures a lot more because it’s more fun with my CDs, vinyl, and digital cameras,” Delano said.
Ava Webster, a CHS junior, collects CDs and attributes her love for the hobby to her family.
“I mainly got into … collecting from my dad,” Webster said. “He has an entire box of R&B, rap, and jazz albums he’s collected over the years so I just became interested in the same music and wanted to start collecting albums of my own.”
Many record stores have noticed the enthusiasm from teenagers in their own shops. Miki Rodgers is the owner of 1709 Records in Vancouver, Wash. and has loved seeing younger customers find joy in vinyl.
“The pandemic really showed the younger generation how neat and cool older tech was, like turntables and cassette decks,” Rodgers said. “Even CDs are back … people needed something.”
Rodgers believes that the trend has created a bridge between generations as well.
“Some people are doing it because it’s the cool or ‘it’ thing to do but some have always been searching,” Rodgers said. “The neat thing is that now some get to do it with their kids, and to see that excitement is super cool.”
Sam Greene, who teaches English, history, and History of Rock and Roll at CHS, views the trend as part of a larger cultural pattern.
“People liked retro things when I was in high school, like classic cars,” Greene said. “I think it’s a good thing to be interested in things that came before you because it helps you understand where you’re going.”
Greene credits the ritual of listening to vinyl as part of its draw. Listening to a record requires intention in a way that is less necessary when streaming an album.
“It forces you to interact with something like music in a much more tangible, physical way, which I think is super cool,” Greene said.
Delano agrees that using older media changes her experience.
“It’s more about actually using [it],” Delano said. “I use my camera for pictures more than my phone because I think the pictures are better quality.”
With many turning to the Y2K style of the early 2000s, nostalgia appears like the most common answer to why vinyl or CDs and digital cameras are so popular. Greene, however, sees an even deeper connection between current trends with the past and present.
“Dissatisfaction with the present is sometimes what causes people to look backwards culturally,” Greene said.
It is hard to say whether this fascination with older technologies will continue to grow or if it will hit an eventual peak. Rodgers is confident that vinyl will endure, with it being something shareable between generations.
In a time often defined by screens, many students feel that older technologies remind them to slow down and look at music or art in a different way.
“I think it’s about context,” Greene said. “Vintage things provide context.”
