3 Cases Where Retro Is the Way to Go
It is that time again: It’s time to upgrade your smartphone, your computer, your smartwatch, your smart speaker, your smart home devices. You get the idea. If it has a plug or a battery, and especially an internet connection, it is always time to upgrade. You need upgrades for bug fixes, features, and security.
Along with the next upgrade, you need patience because the new crop of upgrades will create new bugs and security holes. Forget the next upgrade. The new product is out. Time to upgrade to Gadget 5.0. The moment you do, rumors of Gadget 6.0 will already be out. It never ends.
This is where the wheels fall completely off the upgrade cycle. What’s the point of upgrading if it just makes you feel worse about the product you were so excited to acquire in the first place? There is something to be said about products that serve a single purpose and do it well. Such products are often not fancy or technologically advanced. But they do what they were meant to do for the lifetime of the product, no upgrades required. Here are a few examples of where going retro is better than an upgrade:
Retro Jewelry
One of the main purposes of fine jewelry is to have an excuse to go to places where you can see and be seen. The downside is that you are at high risk of making a fashion faux pas that will land you at the bottom of the social pecking order. You don’t want to pay thousands for an accessory that is worn at the wrong time or with the wrong outfit.
The way to bypass the worry about what’s in is to go with a piece that has already stood the test of time. Choose from a collection of antique brooches that will turn heads and start conversations featuring you as the new hotness rather than the old and busted. It’s funny how something old can make everything about you feel new yet timeless.
An incredibly old and well-kept piece of jewelry is a classic without trying. A new piece of jewelry can seem gaudy and make it look like you are trying way too hard. You want to diversify your fine jewelry collection so that you always have the perfect piece for every special occasion. Classic pieces always fit in.
Home Decor
Home decor is a very personal thing. Sometimes you want something with a more rustic feel. Other times, you want Art Deco. Design, decor, and atmosphere are all very individual. There are no wrong answers.
However, it can be a wrong answer if you are planning to sell the house at some point in the future. That particular shade of pink you used on the walls of the nursery might prove to be off-putting to a potential buyer a few years down the road. Sure, you can just paint over it. But undoing those rounded archways is going to be a much more expensive proposition.
This is one of those occasions where you might be safer going with a more classic approach to design. You can fill a classic design with modern touches if you like. Or you can fill it with antique furnishings and finishes. It stands up well and will not harm your resale value as much as some of the more modern, opinionated decisions you might decide to make.
Retro Gaming
Remember when games were fun? That was before the definition of a video game was something other than shooting people and saying rude things over their pixelated corpse. If that describes how you feel, try doing some retro gaming that will take you to the good old days when Ms. Pac-Man was cutting edge.
There are certainly things that are better when newer. Thank goodness for modern surgical tools and procedures. But when it comes to fine jewelry, home decor, and gaming, it is often retro for the win.
