The Return of 'Low Tech' Living: When Old Is Gold

When Anna Wintour, the powerful editor-in-chief of Vogue magazine, sat in the stands watching tennis in September 2014, holding an old-fashioned flip phone instead of a trendy iPhone 6, people understood that a new but not new trend was emerging.

The trend is the rise of low-tech devices and products, as opposed to high-tech. This trend is reflected in the fact that e-books are not selling as well as predicted and have been stagnant for the past few years. Vinyl records, Polaroid cameras and non-smart phones are also on the way back to modern life.

Low-tech fashion

According to the Telegraph, after Anna Wintour, a leading figure in the fashion world, showed off an old phone in front of many cameras, a fever to find the phone's whereabouts exploded. People quickly discovered that it was an AT&T GoPhone Z222, which is decades old and currently sells for just $15 (VND 320,000).

Just last week, the British Library reported a 10% increase in visits, even in the digital age. Publisher Waterstones said that sales of physical books had rebounded strongly. Just three years ago, business owners were still saying, “Our customers only want digital books.” Now, says Sam Husain, head of publisher Foyles, “People still love shopping online, but nothing beats the feeling of being in a bookshop.”

“Fashion Queen” Anna Wintour and the flip phone

This is not a predicted reality. Paper books, with a history of 600 years, were predicted to die, like typewriters when computers were invented, not to have a strong revival as it is now.

“A few years ago, my 16-year-old son begged for a Kindle,” writes William Langley in the Telegraph. “Last week, when I asked him if he still had it, he looked up from reading The Count of Monte Cristo and said no.”

Surprisingly, in the face of the irresistible trend of technology, people’s reaction (when they have long welcomed it with enthusiasm) has been rejection. Because people believed that things advertised as making their lives simpler actually made them more complicated. They bought expensive solutions to problems that did not exist. And now people are starting to fight back, by bringing low-tech back into their lives.

Flip phones are becoming a symbol of luxury, with celebrities like Anna Wintour, Rihanna and Scarlett Johansson all using them. Old is gold, and some phones are actually gold, costing up to $800, more expensive than Apple’s iPhone 6. The demand for low-tech phones is so high that Samsung is producing a new version with a retro style.

Old phones only do what phones should do, which is make, receive calls and send texts, instead of turning users' lives into giant computer networks that can be stolen and used to smear them to the world.

Famous, Stylish and Flip Phone User – Actress Kate Beckinsale

Use low-tech gadgets to avoid the risk of revealing secrets

According to the New York Times, one important reason why stars love low-tech phones is because they keep secrets very well. This use turns out to be timely, in the context of a series of stars having their secrets and nude photos leaked via high-tech phones. Rock star Iggy Pop has another reason: “You can drop it and it won’t break.”

The same reason is the extraordinary comeback of the Polaroid instant camera. Before the age of smartphones, this was the device used to take selfies. Last year, the scandal of 100 nude photos of Hollywood actresses opened up an unexpected business opportunity for Polaroid, which seemed to have died out after going bankrupt in the early 2000s and ceasing sales in 2007.

The resurgence in demand for Polaroids has left manufacturers struggling to keep up. “Our sales were up 60 percent last year,” said Creed O’Hanlon, the company’s chief executive. “We sold about 1.4 million. On Black Friday alone, we sold 3,000.”

Celebrities have helped drive interest in the device, and its primary audience is teenagers. “Young people today love taking a picture, hearing the click and the buzz, and then slowly, a picture appears in the palm of their hand. People love the physicality. You can write on it and give it to someone, it’s more fun than passing a photo file around,” O’Hanlon said.

Not to be left out of the old trend is the return of vinyl. Last year, 1.2 million vinyl records were sold, the highest in 20 years, a fivefold increase from 2008. Like physical books, the soul contained in vinyl records has saved them from the apocalypse.

Moreover, music lovers love vinyl records, each cover is like a work of art. Now, fortunately, a new generation has access to this art form.

Surprisingly, but not unsurprisingly, typewriters are also making a comeback. Fears of data leaks following the WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden scandals have led intelligence agencies and political organisations to adopt Cold War-era typewriter technology to keep classified information safe, according to the Telegraph.

Recently, movie star Tom Hanks also published a love letter he sent to... a typewriter, with the confession: "The tactile pleasure of typing is incomparable."

Why is high technology, with all its advantages, rejected? Dr. Mike Evans, a physicist at the University of York (UK), explains that high technology brings “a sterile perfection”. Meanwhile, it is the imperfection that helps us understand the world.

According to Thethaovanhoa.vn