Records, videocassettes, floppy disks, 8 tracks, who doesn’t love a little nostalgia now and again? Audiophiles swear music sounds better on vinyl, and certain Disney Masterpiece VHS tapes can sell for upwards of $1000. But what “retro” technology will the next generations cling to?

With the onset of the digital age and the mystical “cloud,” new tech instantly replaces the old, not a trace is left behind to become vintage. Back when technology was primarily mechanical, even a child could take apart a television and put it back together again. If something stopped working, the problem could be quickly found and easily fixed. As long as it was kept in good condition, even a phonograph from 1880 would be exactly as functional as the day it was made.
Not only are things not built to last anymore, it’s as if they are built to fail. Imagine you go out today and buy a shiny new iPhone. $749 is a pretty penny, so you are determined to keep it in pristine condition. After a few weeks the software automatically updates. Soon the app developers update to keep up with the new iOS. This pattern follows until suddenly your device can’t handle the updates any more, and then apps start disappearing off of your phone because the new version isn’t compatible. The thing is, you can’t just run the old operating system with the old apps on your old device. The new is instantly replaced, and the old is gone forever. Even if the hardware is in mint condition, it is useless without the software. And unlike days gone by, there is no hard version of the software to freeze it in time. A two year old smart phone is utterly useless, yet a 25 year old gameboy is as good as new.
The “90s Kids” are some of the most nostalgic generations (see Fuller House, Girl Meets World, and The Splat) yet their children will never be able to hang on to their own early memories.