It is just trendy and fashionable to collect them. The trend has been accelerating since 2010s, because it has been about 30-40 years since they went away and it is the nostalgia wave that is happening.
80’s been really big thing lately in media. Just look at stranger things and the like. Then add to that the anti-digital counter culture. Go back mid 90’s/00s and going fully digital was THE counter culture.
Seriously… this is just how consumer trends work. Counter culture opposes the current, and then they swap around. The major trends happen as the demographic that has disposable income wants to relive their youth. We just happened to get a perfect mix of counter culture and that group wanting to relive their youth combining.
When I was a kid 90s/00s MP3 players and all digital music, demoscene and that music was the hot stuff. I’m sure it’ll be in 10-15 years as end of milennials get to to middle age.
I am personally waiting for the return of a flobby disk… with like 100 times the capacity, but I have such fond memories of sliding that thing in to a machine and then waiting 10 minutes for something to happen as a pentium made physical noises as it worked.
Can’t wait for NIN and Juno Reactor to be blasting everywhere. And acidpunks goths getting their pants stuck of public transportation.
