Pasquale, a sociologist from Italy, cherishes his HTC Dream, the first Android phone from 2008, calling it a relic of a disappeared tech world.
A 148% spike in dumb phone sales among 18-24-year-olds from 2021 to 2024 underscores a trend driven by screen-time reduction and algorithmic fatigue.
Peter Fuller, a UK journalist, still relies on his iPod and vinyl to avoid streaming subscriptions and ads. “I was beside myself when they stopped making iPods,” he said.
Miles, from the UK, started collecting retro consoles after his grandmother’s death, now hosting events that unite generations. An 80-year-old woman spent a day playing Sonic 2 on a Mega Drive.
Singh, a business teacher and film producer, values his Motorola “brick” from the 80s, saying it reminds him of simpler, less connected times.
Pasquale’s collection focuses on early 2000s smartphones as cultural artifacts, representing status and mechanical diversity lost in modern designs.