One of my friends has never made her own playlist. “I just get on Spotify and use what the algorithm has made for me,” she says. “If I’m in a good mood, I ask for a ‘happy playlist’.”

Then again, I also have friends who are going out of their way to make life less easy. Three of them recently purchased flip phones with no internet connection. Others have bought digital cameras to lug along to every event. CDs are popping up in the center consoles of some of their cars.

Even ‘purchasing’ a movie or TV show on a streaming platform doesn’t guarantee your ownership

Is this just an extreme extension of the Y2K aesthetic that has overtaken Instagram feeds? Is Generation Z nostalgic for a bygone era they barely experienced?

It’s deeper than that. Gen Z is also getting sick of technology that claims to have and be everything all at once. How often are we told our cellphones are ruining your life? We hear the stats every day and feel the effects when we stay up till 2 a.m. scrolling through videos we will never think about again. More than a third of Gen Z report that they rarely post or engage on social media and use it only for doomscrolling – turning tools once touted as “social networks” into isolating sources of incessant dopamine hits.

And we are willing to try any new trick to cure our phone addictions. I’ve begun noticing a funny coincidence – social media influencers are increasingly advocating “digital detoxes” and picking up analog hobbies, like crocheting and cake decorating. Even those making careers off social media interaction want to get off their phones.

Then there’s choice fatigue. I open Netflix or Spotify, on the hunt for a good show or album, and am often paralyzed by the number of options. There’s too much of a good thing when the decision-making leaves me overwhelmed.

My friend Ben enjoys pulling his iPod out of retirement every once in a while and listening to the downloaded songs he had as a kid.  “My dad gave me his iPod Shuffle when I was five,” he told me. It’s useful “whenever I don’t know what to listen to or feel the busyness of a smartphone.”

“It’s the disconnection I appreciate,” my friend Molly said. “It’s sweet to have a way to run or walk to music without taking my phone.”

They’re not alone. Apple discontinued iPods in 2022, but the refurbishing market has continued to rise. 2025 saw over 20 percent growth in searches for iPods on eBay, according to Axios.

And when it comes to movies and shows, DVDs are increasingly chic. Influencers and cinephiles alike are posting about their shelves of DVDs. According to data shared with Accio, although the DVD market has been plummeting in the past decade and declined at a rate of 20 percent in 2023 and 2024, 2025 only saw a decrease of 9 percent – a decided shift in the market.

If collecting physical media is morphing into more than just a trend or an aesthetic, that demand for DVDs might continue to grow. Because in a world dominated by streaming, there’s something reassuring about owning physical media.

In 2026, streaming services – for music and for TV – are unwieldy. Netflix swept into the public eye with its $6 streaming bundle in 2007, promising unlimited access to everything you could wish to view and all for the lowest cost imaginable. But today, standard Netflix subscriptions are up to $19.99/month.

And that’s just for one service. The market has been inundated over the past two decades with streaming platforms that regularly shuffle around ownership of popular films and shows. I subscribed to Netflix because it advertised all seven seasons of Gilmore Girls. But – oh, no! They were removed on July 1, due to an expired contract. Now it is Hulu and Disney+ with the rights – and the hefty subscription costs. If I choose to subscribe to a second platform, my annual streaming bill could quickly rise to over $500.

Even “purchasing” a movie or TV show on a streaming platform doesn’t guarantee your ownership – since you aren’t buying a physical copy of the material, you are in effect obtaining a license from the streaming service to watch the film or show for as long as they retain ownership. If the service loses the rights to the material, your license can be terminated.

The director Christopher Nolan said in 2024 that buying films on DVD may be the only way to safeguard against an “evil streaming service” stealing them from you. Fellow director Guillermo del Toro responded on X that “If you own a great 4K HD, Blu-ray, DVD, etc., etc. of a film or films you love… you are the custodian of those films for generations.”

I haven’t purchased an iPod yet, but I’ve started scanning the DVD shelves when I walk into a thrift store. I’m not sure whether I’m aiming to preserve culture for future generations or if I’m just being influenced by another transient trend longing for an idyllic past. At least for now, it’s a cheap hobby.