(Smith Rock Records owner Patrick Smith | Photo by Jeff Spry)
It’s an epidemic of global proportions! Everywhere you look people are staring blankly at their cell phones, posting complaints on social media while sipping a latte, liking beef stew recipes in the gym, texting while knee-steering on the road, and sharing “twerking cats with hats” videos as life passes them by and the sands of time drift down grain by grain… second by second.
But it’s all become quite exhausting. Digital fatigue is a very real thing and we’re beginning to see backlash as humankind reaches out in desperation, back to analog devices and mediums once thought to be left for dead. Even Hollywood is taking notice with its own anti-AI stance in films like Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die that depict our downslide into mindlessness with the root cause being humanity’s incessant addiction to their soulless and shallow online lives. And it’s not just adults, as today’s youth has become veritable techno-zombies as parodied in Pixar’s upcoming Toy Story 5 where Woody and Buzz must save Bonnie from Lilypad, an evil AI tablet.
But despite the sad state of affairs seen waiting in line for a bagel or muffin at your local bakery, where for some reason we’re all afraid to be alone with our thoughts, something wonderful and refreshing is underway. A healthy resurgence of old-fashioned analog devices and honest print media is slowly resurrecting everything from targeted newspapers, specialty magazines, record albums and cassette tapes to 35mm cameras, 4K Blu-ray/DVDs and bulky hi-fi stereo sets.
Digital Entertainment Group (DEG) recently reported that 2025 4K Blu-ray sales alone in the U.S. were lifted by an average of 12% when compared to 2024. With streaming prices skyrocketing beyond what individuals and families can afford, picking up second-hand or new physical home video releases has now become a lively enterprise and rewarding pastime.
This trending effect can be examined in the recent revival of bespoke magazines, niche periodicals, small town gazettes boosting small business awareness, and high-quality regional art and entertainment offerings relying on true printed products as their anchor, with a digital side dish to amplify existence to readers. To hold something physical, an elemental entity written by and curated by actual living beings, suddenly has a nostalgic novelty attached to it.
Much of the movement is being spearheaded by Gen Z and thoughtful Millennial consumers rejecting marathon online consumption and turning to physical means of absorbing music, news, movies and books as a method by which to literally and figuratively unplug from “The Matrix.” While metropolitan newspapers continue to shrink, regional and rural publications are still holding fast by providing a more rewarding way to directly connect to their communities.
They want something easily transportable, instantly available, requiring no downloading or uploading, something devoid of the need for batteries or charging or a strong wi-fi signal. There’s a certain practicality and purity in low-tech and younger generations are instinctively flocking to these quaint diversions of yesteryear that are suddenly back in fashion once again.
But with print newspaper circulation plummeting by 70% from 2005-2025, and over 40% of all local newspapers shutting their doors, a new and unexpected demand that sees these independent institutions as vital once again will perhaps serve to replenish that void. We as Central Oregonians are fortunate to have several print outlets at our disposal, but don’t take them for granted. It’s been a rocky road as they struggle to survive in a bustling digital world.
“Over the last few years, people have definitely been more interested in something they can actually touch, feel, look at and read the lyrics as they listen to the song,” Smith Rock Records owner Patrick Smith tells CBN. “Cassette tapes this last year have been coming back much more than expected. We’ve been ordering more and more cassettes as more artists are offering their new releases on cassettes, which is kind of cool.”
Though far from their stellar numbers in the glory days, physical album sales increased by 6.5% from 2024 through 2025, while digital album sales kept spinning downhill to the tune of 15.9% less than the previous year. Taken separately, U.S. vinyl album sales leaped upwards by 8.6% to 47.9 million. The allure of album art, liner notes and the authenticity of physical recordings have folks descending upon vintage music stores, yard sales and even raiding grandma’s attic!
“Over the Christmas holidays we sold several little portable cassette players. We’ve got a section back there in the store that gets picked through pretty good, with the better cassettes up front. I think people are trying to introduce their children to it as well, trying to pass their records and cassettes along and keep them in the family. Physical media is just going to sound better.”
Operating on the universal laws of expansion and contraction, there’s a loud yearning for things that have tactile quality and provide a sense of ownership in a cold and vaporous pixilated realm cluttered with deep fakes and the unrelenting cacophony of negative social media noise.
Hope springs eternal as we navigate the treacherous waters of AI and the dizzying whirlpool of internet insanity. Never underestimate the simple pleasures of relaxing on a Sunday morning with a newspaper, magazine or listening to your favorite album on a turntable. What’s old is new again. We all have a need for connection, so let this retro revolution continue untethered!
