ANALOG REALNESS
Analog's limits used to be a bug; now they're the feature. Even companies betting on everything artificial are paying to look handmade – using a shot you can't retake, a dial you can feel, an LP or disc you can't switch off remotely. What you can still get your hands is a go-to antidote to the hands-off enigma of the digital black box.
→ Film cameras are selling well among people drawn to the finite roll.
→ China mandates physical buttons in cars for 19 core safety functions from 2027.
→ The ultimate irony: AI companies are turning to analog filmmaking for their campaigns to signal craft and real-world grounding.
→ Physical formats like vinyl, CDs, and DVDs are having a moment because, unlike online content, they can't be taken offline with a single click.
Pockets of the Future
Explore where this signal is already showing up
OpenAI: ChatGPT’s first major brand campaign was shot entirely on 35mm film, with the company stressing that human craft was central to its creation.
Source: Creative Review: ‘OpenAI leans into ‘human craft’ for debut ChatGPT brand campaign,’ Sept 2025
The disc revival: US vinyl revenue rose 9.3% in 2025 to pass $1 billion for the first time since 1983, while 4K Blu-ray sales grew 12%, as streaming fatigue and vanishing titles push buyers toward media they own.
Image: Filmthreat
China’s buttons comeback: a draft national standard requiring dedicated physical controls for 19 core functions, including turn signals, hazard lights, wipers and gear shifting, in all new cars from July 2027.
Source: Electrek: ‘China is bringing buttons back to cars, ending trend led by Tesla,’ July 2026
Gen Z film camera revival: 35% of the world’s 42 million active film camera users in 2025 were aged 18–30, and LA held its first analog photography festival – AnalogCon – in April 2026.
Source: Fortune: ‘Gen Z’s analog obsession is reviving a film camera market that digital killed,’ July 2026