Each generation rebels against the predominant tendencies of the one that preceded it. In the case of Generation Z, this rebellion seems to take the form of an abandonment of the long-heralded digital future, where physical media dissolves into oceans of ephemeral and intangible data. Instead, Gen Z is canceling Netflix and going to the movies, they’re ditching music streamers in favor of old-school iPods, and they’re buying cassette tapes, wired headphones…and flip phones.
Enter the Commodore Callback, a flip phone from a company best known for making game consoles in the early ’80s. Commodore has recently seen a revival, with YouTuber Christian Simpson acquiring Commodore’s remaining brands and assets through a newly created company called Commodore International Corporation. The Callback is emblematic of Simpson’s vision, blending modern innovation with the best elements of Commodore heritage, and celebrates everything Gen Z seems to embrace: retro physical devices, disconnecting from social media, and colorful, transparent technology.
A flip phone for a media-saturated era
Commodore’s blog post announcing the Commodore Callback is dripping with ’80s nostalgia. It touches on everything from the Commodore 64 (of which the company currently makes a modern version, called the Commodore 64 Ultimate) to Star Trek communicators to Atari. At first glance, it might not seem like Gen Z is the target audience, but maybe that’s the point. All of the trends mentioned above are not Gen Z nostalgia, they are indicative of a generation yearning for an era they have never witnessed.
Commodore is surely hoping to capture old heads truly nostalgic for the beige electronics of the 80s, as well as a younger generation yearning for a simpler time. Callback provides an essential suite of apps, such as Telegram, WhatsApp, music player, maps and camera, but blocks social networks and browsers. This is a device intended to serve a function, but not to encourage “phubbing,” the phone-snobbery behavior so common in the smartphone age.
Making the Callback a flip phone was also a very intentional choice. Open it, do something, then close it and come back to reality. It is a tool, a discrete experience rather than a portal to ignore the physical world. Of course, it also comes with a Commodore 64 emulator if you need to distract yourself on the subway. If this sounds like the type of forced disconnection you need, you can sign up now to be alerted when the booster goes up for pre-order.
