Dr. Andy Farnell on "Good Tech"
About 5 hours ago Dr. Andy Farnell explained why many adults - and reportedly young people too - escape to physical media and look for so-called 'retro' in the age of "rent everything" and "own nothing". He particularly focuses on arcades with old games:
Given the enormous doom and gloom of tech at the moment, I'm refreshed and reminded not only that computers were fun… they still are, so long as you're able to find the refugee camps. There's quite an underground of "real gamers", not just oldies like me but loads of young blood. A group of 15 or 16 year-olds were there apparently discovering Guitar Hero for the first time. Minds blown!This parallels what I've seen happen with vinyl. The local record shops in my town are booming. Prices are rising. The same 15 quid I would have spent in 1981 for a mint Human League album, and a classic Africa Bambaataa and Soul Sonic Force hip-hop 12 inch is pushing 30 quid! Last Christmas my wife and I bought each other vinyl albums - because there's literally no new technology or media worth shit nowadays.
There's a pattern here. As Ursula Franklin noticed, technologies start as holistic, people-powered and diverse. Then they enshitify, becoming "prescriptive" as they are captured and commodified by corporate capital. However she did not observe that as the capitalist machine rolls on, high-quality, desirable technologies become classic - not merely "retro", but part of the stable cultural fabric. Their maintenance and renewal, and ownership of "intellectual property" returns to the public sphere.
Look at the vibrant analogue synthesiser market now, with literally thousands of modular Euro-rack makers and boutique pedal manufacturers around the world. Making actual electronic music (not Suno "AI" crap) has never been more exciting. Of course Roland, Korg and Yamaha still have a business. They never became evil monsters like US Big Tech (maybe that's a Japanese thing), and so have a stable, loyal base and don't feel so threatened by newcomers, modders, and makers that they feel the need to buy-up every tiny competitor, sabotage their repair parts market or sue creators of interoperable technology.
The games arcade scene looks like an oasis. It restores hope that when you get off the beaten track of ugly mainstream tech there's a lot that's still positive, timeless, durable, enthusiastic, and authentic.
In my personal experience, the seaside arcades have more "modern" games on them, not the oldies. So not all arcades are equal. Andy recommends Insanity Gaming Arcade in Dorset.
Regarding music equipment and old media, we wrote a great deal about it this year and last year. Just waiting for summer to use my Discman again. This is not about nostalgia; it's increasingly practical as "modern" things become more restrictive and oppressive.
Assuming storage costs will continue to soar, falling back on read-only CDs would be economic. █