India, July 22 -- A "going analogue" movement has been picking up pace through 2026 as a global media narrative, with young people swapping smartphones for iPods, flip phones, CD players, film cameras, etc. "Analogue" has become the shorthand the entire media narrative has settled on for anything that isn't a smartphone or a streaming platform.

Spotify has 100 million songs on tap. So why is a growing number of Gen Zers deliberately going back to devices that hold a few hundred?

In the US/UK, the iPod is the flagship of this revival. eBay data shows the device was searched roughly 1,300 times an hour on average last year, with prices on some models climbing between 40 and 60 per cent. Refurbished-tech marketplace Back Market has started...