Really? Out of All Retro Tech, THIS Is What New Yorkers Want to Bring Back?

Out of all the things to be nostalgic for...

Look, I get that we are living in an ultra-techy time where banal objects like watches have IQs. I admit it's nice that I can use my phone to remote start my car or video chat with my pets - but I feel like they haven't made my life any easier.

That's why I crave the "good old days" sometimes and it appears I'm not alone.

What retro item do New Yorkers want back in fashion?

Casino.org wondered just that - so they asked over 2,000 Americans. When chatting with people from the Empire State, they learned wired headphones were missed most of all.

Which is weird considering wired headphones are still available to purchase. Did they actually mean they miss the headphone jack?

I'll be honest, I thought smart technologies demanding we buy Bluetooth headphones to access our music was out of pure greed. That meant we then had to buy special chargers, adapters and, sometimes, replacement parts just to get them to work.

Raise your hand if you ever lost one of your AirPods before and needed to buy a new pair. Raise another hand if your Bluetooth headphones ran out of juice at the most inopportune time, like a long flight?

We never had problems like that when wired headphones were the only game in town.

So, maybe New York has a point. But, out of all the retro items to be the most nostalgic for, I think the Empire State missed the mark.

What did the rest of America say?

When glancing at the nation as a whole, Americans overwhelmingly said they missed the digital camera.

Which is great because that is causing them to reappear in stores and those who grew up taking cameras on their phone are also falling in love with the technology.

The digital camera is back and with gusto. When asked, respondents indicated that digital cameras were the number 1 retro technology they’d like to see brought back.

Americans also overwhelmingly missed the early 2000's aesthetic, which is see-through devices. Remember how cool the old, multicolored iMacs looked?  The states that missed transparent devices most were Alaska, Maryland, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, Missouri, and Wyoming.

Coming in third was the flip phone, which is weird since those are also being sold in stores. Did they actually mean phones that were only capable of phone calls - and were borderline indestructible?

Nokia phones were great.

It appears residents of Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Virginia also agree.

Other nostalgic items people crave included digital pets like the Tamagotchi, tube TVs, handheld camcorders and landlines.

Breaking down nostalgia by age

Of course, different generations missed different things. For example, those over 50 missed landline phones the most while those between 18 and 25 voted for the digital camera.

Those between 26 and 35 yearned for transparent devices while those between 36 and 50 stumped for tube TVs.

Men and women also had differing opinions, with more guys choosing to miss the landline while ladies opted for wired headphones.

Below is the methodology of how Casino.org obtained its results.

We surveyed over 2,000 Americans in July 2023 about their technology preferences. The age range was between 18-70 with all participants currently residing in the United States. Of the respondents, 48% were male, 48.1% were female and 3.9% were transgender or non-binary.

What was your favorite "retro" device growing up. Tell us if you still have it!

Me? I still have my old Gameboy (special Pikachu edition btw) and PlayStation 2.

Get our free mobile app