this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2024
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Technology

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107
Gen Z is bringing back landline phones because they think they look ‘cool’: ‘I love to twirl the cord’ (nypost.com)
submitted 10 months ago by catculation@lemmy.zip to c/technology@beehaw.org
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/10105454

• Gen Z's nostalgia for the early 2000s is sparking a revival of landline phones, seen as a retro-chic escape from the digital age.

• Influenced by '90s and 2000s TV shows, young adults like Nicole Randone and Sam Casper embrace landlines for their vintage appeal.

• Urban Outfitters capitalizes on Gen Z's love for nostalgia by selling retro items like landline phones alongside fashion trends from the '90s and 2000s.

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[–] Trafficone@slrpnk.net 3 points 10 months ago

One thing people forget is long distance fees. Cell phones basically did away with long distance fees, and we're better for that. However, landlines have some notable benefits:

  • self-powered, you could call in a power outage
  • high fidelity, yeah it was bandpass filtered, but everything in that filter made it through
  • freedom of usage, it was hard-fought but you could plug anything into your phone line, from more phones to answering machines to computer modems. There was a whole market around "dumb shit you plugged into your phone line" products

We're still way better overall with cell phones, but something was lost to get them.