Gen Z’s enthusiasm for all things touchable is resurrecting the analog economy—and costing parents
Gen Z’s enthusiasm for all things touchable is resurrecting the analog economy—and costing parents
Gen Zers are fueling record sales of CDs, LPs, concert tickets, books, and print magazines.
The vinyl record industry has enjoyed a resurrection largely driven by Gen Z.
Hasn't vinyl been back for over a decade? I know marketer defined generations aren't super meaningful, but I hate how blatantly the narratives they're trying aren't internally consistent
Yeah, I definitely collected records starting in my mid-teens throughout my 20s (I'm in my 30s now). I'd say it went from having to go to weird record shows populated mostly by old old dudes, to record stores popping up everywhere, to having records in Target sometime in the mid 2010s.
the first vinyl revival I remember started in the mid 90s and it seems like it has basically been growing since
The 90s one was tiny compared to the current one.
Purely anecdotally, I'm Gen Z and I went to high school with a guy who was big into vinyls, and have never otherwise met someone with that interest. So it tracks in my limited experience
i think the industry boomed around lockdown, heard a couple people talk about them in HS in 2021 and so far in uni i've been to 3 dorms with record players (mostly those shitty suitcase ones). sometimes i see a bunch of vinyls hanging on someone's wall so i think some rich kids just get them for decoration 💀
personally i find them expensive as hell so i go for more CDs depending on the genre/sound
It is 1982 and the compact disc is released commercially
It is 1988 and the compact disc has overtaken vinyl in popularity, however it has a dedicated userbase which gives it sort of a revival
It is right now and I was going to do a whole bit paraphrasing The Watchmen, but I'm just going to link you this instead https://inphaseaudio.co.uk/blogs/news/vinyl-revival-a-brief-timeline
The generation that grew up touching almost nothing but glass and plastic screens, who have had the art they hold dear repeadedly ripped from their hands by the industry or lose access to it when they're down and out and might need it most. Nobody can possibly be surprised that they're seeking out physical media and tactile sensations. I wouldn't be surprised to see a huge resurgence of torrents and data hoarding either if it isn't already happening.
Data hoarding and torrenting are in a huge renaissance period right now IMO.
Clients (qbit, deluge, transmission) are better than ever, more people are aware of private trackers and they've gotten better over time (bonus point systems have solved the seedbox ratio "problem"), VPN proliferation continues to grow despite my concerns with some of the providers, and public trackers are in a decent place despite the massive loss of RARBG.
Storage is cheaper than ever and we've hit a point where most people can probably buy one drive that would suit their entire video media, games, and digital print interests.
VPN proliferation continues to grow despite my concerns with some of the providers,
All the major VPN providers are in some way tied to a national intelligence agency. Not much of a secret when the companies have "former" intelligence agents on their boards or somewhere in their C-suite. For example, PIA is Mossad. Or how Nord has relationships with the CIA and NSA via it's data broker sister company. Thing is, national intelligence agencies don't give a fuck about piracy and if anything it's encouraged because it gets more people to route their Internet connections through a service.
Whether teenagers’ and young adults’ attraction to the analog world of music, books, and real-life experiences is an enduring or passing trend remains to be seen.
I dunno that sounds like some nerd shit. Real life experiences?
the passing wokeist trend of reading books
I can't knock out some yellow-ribbon who's wielding a knife on the bus with my gaming laptop as well as I could with a 2-kilogram hardcover book titled israel is peepeepoopoo
You need a Model F to go with the laptop.
Given the behaviour of software distribution companies, having a physical thing that can't be randomly taken away by the entity selling it is much more desirable to me
I quit buying anything digital on PS4, and then I quit buying PS4 games altogether because if the clock battery runs dry you have to contact a server for the console to get its "license", fuck that.
Isn't Gen Z mostly adults now?
Upper end of Gen Z is rapidly approaching their 30s, surely it’s time they start blathering about gen alpha or whatever the next one is
didn't they exclusively complain about millennials until like 2017, when the oldest were approaching 40? generations are over 15 years wide!
but most of us are still teens or early 20s who wouldn't even consider late 20s or middle schoolers in-group even if they technically are
All of this generational labeling shiy is just horseshit to divide us, who even cares. We might as well start advocating to execute everyone on their 30th birthday.
Can I get grandfathered in or do I have to bring myself in?
Honestly, who even knows?
I just started treating generational war shit like horoscopes. I read this and was like "omg I'm such a Gen Z." I read the ankle sock article and thought, "I'm definitely a millenial." When I read about Zoomers being depressed about the world and not seeing any point to typical societal expectations and I'm like "I'm a Zoomer, no cap." It's all vibes.
Fuck you. Fuck you for saying that. Let me live in my bubble where we don't count the time since the year 2000 in decades.
12-28, so average age 20. but still includes all teens
i think people at the cusp are kinda in between gens so 26-28 are more zillennial and 12-14 are more zalpha
This is going to be their version of "Millennials would do better if they stopped buying Starbucks / Advocado toast".
The analog economy never died.
The people who write this stuff have literally never been to a show with less than a hundred people in attendance. You gotta make sure the 50 unit run from national comes in before everyone piles into your sisters Jetta for a quick three state tour.
I once waited 3 hours in a merch line at a concert for The Garden to get literally get a vinyl and a tape not even that long ago
I don't really have a problem with (DRM-free) digital purchases usually, like I buy ebooks on itch and other places a lot, and albums off Bandcamp frequently. I do not subscribe to any streaming service because lol, lmao. If I can't keep it, fuck you.
Touchable? Like a touchscreen? Weird choice of words
Oh no! Not the parents!
Permanently Deleted
I wanted to play a 15 year old video game from my childhood which I'm nostalgic for. My options were to buy a digital copy online for 60 dollars, the original price it had when I was 9 years old. Or I could buy a disc copy of it on ebay for 8 dollars.
