Vintage and Retro – The Fascination of Out-dated Things

In recent years, a certain phenomenon could be seen all over the world: Although people always like to own the latest trends in technology – smartphones, LED- or 3D-TVs, tablet PCs and high-tech gaming consoles – they also tend to gravitate towards many things vintage and retro. This is especially true for fashion, furniture, cars, music and also electronic products made for entertainment. Vintage video games for example become more and more sought after, and clothes, prints and designs from the seventies are even more popular than they ever were during the time they were invented and released.

I think that this phenomenon has partly to do with timeless design and is therefore related to quality. On the other hand, however, nostalgia also plays an important role. In today’s fast-moving time, people like to turn to things they have really built a relation to and which remind them of the “good old times”.

Some things lost their appeal, some didn’t

It is interesting to note, however, that some things have totally lost their appeal and meaning and have become obsolete by the invention of more powerful or more practical inventions. Vintage computers for example aren’t worth anything anymore, because the machines became more and more powerful over the years. Vintage phones, on the other hand, are becoming popular again though many people simply don’t want to deal with cords anymore. As an alternative they are often looking for a new cordless phone which is in a way a combination of an old phone and a modern one. Though its design and some of its functions are modern, its usability is limited to one’s own house since it is a landline phone. Nevertheless people buy those phones even though they already own a smartphone. This shows that the craving for familiar things which we have known since our childhood days is still strong in many people.