the new retro is 2012
Retro needs an update, and it's 2012.
It's safe to say at this point that "retro" as a whole is very played out. For electronics, games and computers, every single thing from the 1960s to the 2000s has been covered. All it takes is a search of YouTube for anything computer/game/whatever from the 40-year span of 1969 to 2009, and yeah, there's a video on it.
Every electronic, every game, all of it. Think there's something that hasn't been covered? You're wrong. Somebody has made a video. There's nothing left, nothing to be discovered, and it's all been done.
Things are played out to the point where the majority of well-established YouTube channels revolving around retro have resorted to covering industrial equipment. I'm talking about the stuff nobody ever had in their homes, such as highly specific scientific testing equipment, refrigerator-sized computers, and so on. The well has completely dried up for all the consumer grade stuff, so the industrial crap is all the retro content creators have left to cover. They purposely buy broken old industrial gear, make as many videos as they can about repairing it, then the very last video of the series shows the thing turning on, "How cool is this?" (it's not), and... that's it. Not exactly riveting content.
But then there's 2012. More specifically, 2012 to 2018. This is the new retro, but in a different flavor in that the tech is actually usable now.
For example, I have a whole pile of Garmin GPSes from that era, and they all still work just fine - and I'm able to load up modern maps using OpenStreetMap data, making them actually usable as daily drivers.
Then there's the giant swath of Linux users (and I'm one of them) who use laptops made in that 2012-2018 era. The old spinning hard drive was junked for a new SSD, the RAM maxed out with a couple of new sticks, a new/current Linux distro is installed, and guess what? Usable and quick since the bottleneck was the RAM and hard drive in the first place. Have refurbished Dell Latitude, will travel - for cheap.
Old retro is all about getting a nostalgia fix. This is why I'm very happy letting arcade machines be somebody else's problem. To use another example, sure, you could buy a big tube-type refurbished television (not cheap) for that "proper" retro gaming experience. Should you? No. Not worth it. It's a big heavy box in your living space that solely exists for a nostalgia fix that wears off real fast.
New retro is about actually using older stuff to get things done today. Not just with computers and gaming consoles but also with cars, tools, appliances, whatever. Take the old-but-not-too-old stuff, refurb/upgrade as best you can, use it.
It's not about getting a nostalgia fix anymore, because we've already done all that. It's about using older stuff to improve your life without going to the poorhouse in the process.
New retro is your thing if you consider modern stuff to be overpriced crap.
People are totally willing to pay for cheap crap, just by virtue that it's cheap. So if you buy a box of cheap pens at a dollar store and a few of them don't work, you're not too angry about that, if at all.
It's when you put real money into something modern and it either doesn't work and/or breaks quickly that gets you angry. If that sounds like you, start looking at the 2012-2018 stuff. What stuff, specifically? Start with the electronics. I mentioned laptops, but refurb mini PCs are worth a look. Also look into appliance repair. There are many big books on that. More often than not, most broken appliances can be fixed with under $100 worth of parts once you know how to install them.
The happy happens any time you can use an older thing to make your life better. Money is saved and you get your stuff done. I'd argue that's better than any nostalgia fix.
Published 2025 Apr 17
