New York
CNN
—
First, it was a disposable camera. Then low rise jeans. Now, Generation Z’s latest “vintage” obsession is the flip phone. Cell phones in the mid-1990s suddenly became popular among millennials.
Today, these small, lightweight devices (some of which are available at big box stores like Walmart and Amazon for as little as $20) are being used by young people to unbox, unbox, and put on the case just like previous generations. Appear in a TikTok video shooting a how-to tutorial to wow you. Carefree and blurry aesthetics through low-quality cameras.
But most importantly, they love the ability to disconnect. 2023.
Singer Camila Cabello posed at the TCL Galaphone on Thursday and tweeted, “I am Team Galaphone Revolution.”, vintage. “Maybe I can write a theme song.”
Actress Dove Cameron, who rose to fame on Disney Channel’s “Live and Maddie,” said in a November interview that she switched to a flip phone. Spending too much time on her phone and social browsing her media is “really bad for me,” she said.
“I found a little ’90s Matrix-esque flip phone,” Cameron said. “I got another number for it. I think it’s really cheap and probably really shit.”
Cameron said she unplugged and switched because she felt her social media presence was “misleading.”feeling is pervasive Among Generation Z – and the This effect is related to mental health crises in teens.
According to psychologists, as smartphones and social media became more prevalent around 2012, teen depression rates also increased. Between 2004 and 2019, he nearly doubled his teenage depression rates, according to the Bureau of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Sammy Palazzolo, 18, a freshman at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has a new habit of using his cell phone when going out for a night out with friends.
She and her friends get ready while listening to the latest music on their smartphones. And when you go out, leave those smart-her devices behind.
Instead, they stay in touch all night long through nothing more than a rattle phone, taking pictures despite their now primitive cameras. Their devices are great conversation starters.
“At a party, people would say, ‘Oh my God, is that a flip phone?'” Palazzolo said. “We’ve talked to some new people, met some people, and everyone loves it.”
18-year-old Reagan Border said she’s trying to get her sorority sisters on trend.
“I think more and more people will go out with their rattle phones just because it’s such a fun, nostalgic and honest vibe.” Boarder said.
Before switching phones, Palazzolo found that nights out on college towns often ended in tears stemming from being unwelcome. Posting on social media or texting from the original, “The root cause was in our cellphones.”
When vintage technology started to make a comeback, they came up with an unconventional solution.
In December she and three friends went to the local Walmart. The process, from which model she bought to finding the right phone plan, was unfamiliar to the 18-year-old. Four hours later, Palazzolo bought her AT&T Flex for her $49.99. A friend of hers got her a cheap model for $19.99 through Tracphone.
Palazzolo’s TikTok video encouraging others to buy Flip Phones has received over 14 million views and over 3 million likes with hashtags like #BRINGBACKFLIPPHONES and #y2kaesthetic .
“It takes away all the bad things about college and brings all the good things about the phone,” says Palazzolo. “It’s about connecting with people and taking pictures and videos. The pictures and videos on this are awesome.”
HMD Global, which is Nokia’s exclusive licensee, said Gen Z is a rare demographic for the company. Both companies are based in Finland.
HMD Global Head of Marketing Jackie Kates said:
Generation Z are accustomed to the many features that come with smartphones, from Instagram, Find My Friends, GPS, and many other apps. But relying on these simple devices also raises safety concerns. Lacking a “find me” tracking feature, Palozzolo said she and her friends are working closely together, using a buddy system to keep track of who is where.
Palozzolo wanted to use a flip phone during one high school summer vacation. “My parents never said they needed to be able to track you,” she said.
Palazzolo is no stranger to “vintage” technology. She’s been bringing her digital camera to parties since her sophomore year of high school.
And while Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro has a 48-megapixel camera, it doesn’t give you the delayed gratification of waiting to develop a photo or download it to your computer. Popular apps such as “Hisptamatic” and “Dazz Cam” reproduce photos from digital and film cameras and have thousands of downloads.
The disposable camera market is projected to grow to $1.23 billion by 2030. Celebrities like TikTokker’s Charlie D’Amelio and model Emily Ratajkowski are jumping on the digital he camera trend of the 2000s.
“I love pictures of the phone because it’s rattle and blurry,” says Palazzolo. “And I think it perfectly captures the vibe of a college outing.”
Perhaps one of the reasons Gen Z yearns for the 1990s and 2000s era is privacy and the lack of curated images. The most casual social media. There is Photo Dump, which features candid photos, and BeReal, a popular app that once a day asks users to take a real-time selfie that he posts within two minutes.
“I don’t want to be someone who’s on the phone all the time,” says Boeder. “Obtaining a flip phone has made it more possible.”
At the time, “people were more engaged with each other than they were on their phones or social media,” says Boeder. “People seemed to talk to each other more, and everything became more sincere and spontaneous.”
HMD Global said many would prefer the idea to be less available.
“This change is that many smartphone users are beginning to realize that they are spending too much time glued to their devices, and are choosing to disconnect and ‘fully present’ to improve the quality of their social connections.” I think it stems from a strong desire to do that,” says Kates.
yes new Nokia flip phones are still available. The Nokia 2760 Flip is available at Walmart for $19.99 from prepaid brands such as Verizon. The 2780 is available at Amazon and Best Buy for $89.99.
By 2022, International Data Corporation predicts that the foldable smartphone market will It was expected to reach $29 billion by 2025. Samsung has shipped more than 10 million units since the first generation model came out, making it more than his 88% share of the global foldable smartphone market as of 2022.
These aren’t $30 flip phones at Walmart. The unlocked Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 starts at $1,799.99 and the Galaxy Z Flip4 starts at $999.99.
“Samsung has chosen to bet on foldable smartphones,” said Zaker Li, principal analyst for the Omdia mobile devices team.
Omdia attributed Samsung’s higher price tag to poor sales of previous models, but sales “increased rapidly.” To 9 million units in 2021, a 309% increase from the previous year.
But Apple needn’t worry. Omdia expects foldable phones to make up his 3.6% of the total smartphone market by 2026. By comparison, Apple’s market share is more than half of the total smartphone market.