Apple’s iPod Classic’s are selling for as much as $900, which is over $650 above the original retail price. The discontinued digital music player is seeing resurgence thanks to its enormous storage capacity and scarcity, immediately making it one of the retro items that came back in 2014.
Hipsters often embrace technology from 20-30 years ago, but it appears some items are just enjoying the cyclical nature of consumer trends. The $900 iPod notwithstanding, if you’re Christmas shopping on a budget, these retro items may make low-priced and unique stocking stuffers. Check them out.
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Photo: Apple
According to Nielsen SoundScan, over four million vinyl records will be sold in 2014. That total eclipses 2013’s total of 2.9 million, resulting in a 40% increase for those who prefer to hear that vintage sound as opposed to the compressed audio of CDs and digital mp3s.
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Technically, Nike’s Air Jordan line has been immensely popular for a while. However, perhaps due to oversaturation, Nike announced a halt in production to the Air Jordan III in August of 2014. Either way, all signs point to increased popularity for the line of shoes that rose to fame in the 80s and 90s.
Cassette tapes carry a certain fashionable, retro appeal, but acts like She & Him and MGMT took that nostalgia to new heights by releasing new material on cassettes in 2014. The format took a dive in popularity in the 90s, and while tapes aren’t making the same resurgence as vinyl, a niche group of consumers has shown interest in the format.
While there are no stats on hand, both ABC and The New York Times have covered the recent resurgence in manual typewriters. Enthusiasts cite the lack of distraction inherent with laptops, aesthetic preferences, and good old ironic hipsterism.
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Polaroid went from a garage startup to a billion dollar company before eventually filing for bankruptcy twice between 2001 and 2009. Now, Polaroid reports a 75% increase in purchases from the coveted 18-25 demographic, and adoption of Polaroid from the likes of Lady Gaga, FKA Twigs, and Lana Del Rey certainly hasn’t hurt.
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In the 1990s harem pants were often referred to as “Hammer Pants” as a nod to multiplatinum rapper MC Hammer. Fast forward to 2014, and drop crotch pants are the same thing with a different name and all the popularity from the ‘90s.
photo: WENN
Despite companies like RealD posting financial losses due to a lack of consumer interest, 3D technology is continually pushed on us via phones, flats screen TVs, and movies. It’s a telling sign for a technology that’s been around in some form since the 1920s.
Samsung and Apple have brought to life images of Get Smart character Agent 86 talking into a futuristic smart watch. And while early Casio iterations didn’t have phone and text capabilities, they were an early version of the multipurpose, smart watch complete with calculators.
Aside from that infamous click wheel, the iPod Classic offered the option of a dedicated music player and 250 GB of space. The latter doubles the amount of storage of an iPhone and at least partially explains why the now discontinued digital media player has suddenly become en vogue, fetching up to $1000.
