By Narayan Saimbi
Over the last few months, I’ve noticed a trend internetwide across almost all the content I consume. Whether it’s Reels on my Home Page, pieces on my Substacks or Youtube videos in my Subscriptions, there seems to be a hive mindset right now, specifically concerning the desire for physical media and single-purpose devices.
Now, what do I mean by this? Well, physical media is evident enough. CDs, vinyls, cassette tapes and DVDs. On a first glance, this isn’t anything new. The resurgence of vinyls in the latter half of the 2010s was evidence for the fact that there was a growing desire for people to physically own their music, and not just have their songs be saved behind the cloud of a streaming service. However, the sheer amount of content I see circling around the desire for physical media is like nothing I’ve seen before. The difference is that this time, it’s not just vinyls that are the target of the internet zeitgeist. People are burning CDs, they’re starting DVD binders; the other day, I even saw a Reel of a refurbished Sony Walkman that someone was putting up for sale. The search for physical media is the strongest it has been in years and Gen Z is leading that push front and centre.
That brings me to the other point of purpose; single-use devices. In our current age of technology and desire for physical minimalism, the phone is not just a phone anymore. It is a sound system, a video player and a gaming system. It is everything you could possibly want a device to be and it’s all contained in your pocket. But people are growing increasingly tired with this “one-stop solution”, so to speak.
Across the internet, there seems to be a growing desire to disconnect. To close Instagram. To turn off Tiktok. To put it briefly, a lot of people just want to “get off the damn phone”. That’s where single-purpose devices come in- devices that are meant to just do one thing. I’m talking about MP3 players, designated e-readers and portable gaming systems- on this note in particular, the amount of modded PSP and Nintendo 3DS consoles I’ve seen has been absolutely staggering. In my opinion, it is fantastic that some of these older pieces of technology are getting the love they deserve once more. And whilst there is certainly a question of why you would bother with this old tech when your phone can do it all, Gen Z are firmly rejecting that notion in favour of what is known as “digital minimalism”. These extra gadgets may take up more space in your bag but for Gen Z, that’s a price worth paying for peace of mind and media ownership.
Here is an example of the type of “digital minimalism” content that I’m talking about
As mentioned, there is a flurry of criticism that I see under the majority of videos that advocate for this kind of disconnection. Claims that this is “just a trend” or that the person in the video is “never going to actually use” the devices that they’re showing off. Whilst there is no way of actually knowing the truth of the second statement, the former assertion does have some legitimate concern behind it. Is this trend going to be just that- a trend? Is this going to simply be a waste of money for everyone involved? Or is this mindset of “digital minimalism” going to catch on further and remain in our zeitgeist for years to come? Of course, there is no answer to this at present- only time will tell. But I can certainly see the reason why this content does receive its criticism, even if I don’t fully agree with it.
Overall, I can see why Gen Z has chosen to take this route. A desire to disconnect and a desire to own their media are logical objectives to base this mindset around. In an era where big companies like Amazon and Spotify only grant us a license to our media, it is certainly a breath of fresh air that people are actually taking a stand to own what we buy once again. Maybe this is just a trend. Maybe it will fade away in a few weeks or a few months. But even if so, it has highlighted the glaring errors in media consumption and trade that we are facing at the moment. Even if that’s all that this movement achieves, that’s good enough for me.
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