The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

Bay Area-based 23andMe announced on Sunday that it will look to sell “substantially all of its assets” through a court-approved reorganization plan.

Anne Wojcicki, who co-founded 23andMe nearly two decades ago, is also stepping down as CEO effective immediately, the company said — but will remain on the 23andMe board. Her resignation comes just weeks after a board committee rejected a nonbinding acquisition proposal from Wojcicki, who has been trying to take the company private.

And Wojcicki intends to still bid on 23andMe as the company pursues a sale through the bankruptcy process. In a statement on social media, Wojcicki said that she resigned as CEO to be “in the best position” as an independent bidder.

“There is no doubt that the challenges faced by 23andMe through an evolving business model have been real, but my belief in the company and its future is unwavering,” she later added.

23andMe has faced an uncertain future for some time. Beyond battles to go private, the company struggled to find a profitable business model since going public in 2021. Privacy concerns related to customers’ genetic information have also emerged, notably spanning from a 2023 data breach — along with questions around what new ownership could mean for users’ data.

Here’s what to know.

news Mar 3

23andMe special committee again rejects CEO Wojcicki's take-private offer

Business Nov 12, 2024

23andMe cuts 40% of its workforce and discontinues therapeutics division

23andMe’s bankruptcy follows months of turmoil

23andMe was founded in 2006, with a promise to revolutionize the future of genetics and health care. The company became known for its saliva-based DNA testing kits — purchased by millions of customers eager to learn more about their ancestry — and later dived further into health research and drug development.

But recent years have been far from smooth sailing for 23andMe. And Sunday’s voluntary bankruptcy filing caps months of turmoil.

Last September, all of its independent directors resigned in a rare move following acquisition negotiations with Wojcicki.

The company then announced in November that it would lay off 40% of its workforce, or more than 200 employees, and discontinue its therapeutics division. And in January, the board’s special committee said it was exploring strategic alternatives, including a possible sale.

Shares of 23andMe Holding Co. have shed nearly all their value since last spring — and plunged even farther after Sunday’s bankruptcy filing, trading at under $1 as of midday Monday.

In recent securities filings, 23andMe continued to warn about its “ability to continue as a going concern” — which is accounting-speak for having the resources needed to operate and stay in business.

Sunday’s Chapter 11 filing from 23andMe reported total debts of more than $214.7 million as of the end of last year. Assets, meanwhile, amounted to over $277.4 million.

What does Chapter 11 mean for the company?

23andMe says that filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection will help facilitate a sale of the company, meaning that it’s seeking new ownership.

In a statement Sunday, Board Chair Mark Jensen said that this court-supervised process was “the best path forward.” He added they also expect it to help 23andMe’s efforts to cut costs as well as resolve legal and leasehold liabilities.

23andMe is looking to pull back from its real estate footprint. Among motions filed on Sunday, the company is seeking court approval to reject lease contracts in San Francisco and Sunnyvale, for example, in efforts to help cut down on expenses.

Otherwise, 23andMe says it plans to continue operating. The company says it’s received $35 million in debtor-in-possession financing from JMB Capital Partners to help support its business throughout the bankruptcy process.

I’m a 23andMe customer. Is my genetic data safe?

23andMe says its bankruptcy filing won’t change the way it stores or protects data. Jensen, the board chair, said Sunday that 23andMe is “committed to continuing to safeguard customer data” and that data privacy will be “an important consideration” in any future sale.

John Bringardner of Debtwire notes that any new buyer of 23andMe will have to comply with regulatory approvals that ensure “customer data won’t end up in unscrupulous hands.”

Still, who will end up owning 23andMe down the road is unknown. And experts note that risks remain.

“Personal data collected by 23andme has always been at risk,” Bringardner wrote in emailed commentary on Monday — pointing particularly to a 2023 data breach that compromised ancestral information for nearly 7 million 23andMe customers. He adds that litigation spanning from the aftermath of this breach helped drive up liabilities that eventually contributed to the current bankruptcy filing.

Last year, 23andMe agreed to pay $30 million in cash to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of failing to protect customers whose personal information was exposed in this breach. On Sunday, the company said that it plans to use bankruptcy proceedings to “resolve all outstanding legal liabilities” stemming from the October 2023 incident.

Beyond this data breach, uncertainty about the company’s future overall has also led some to recently urge 23andMe customers to delete their data.

On Friday, days before 23andMe’s bankruptcy filing, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued an urgent alert reminding 23andMe customers of their legal rights under state law — and called on them to consider deleting and destroying any genetic data held by the company. Bonta’s office pointed to 23andMe’s ongoing financial distress and “trove of sensitive consumer data” the company has amassed.

How to delete 23andMe data

AP Health Writer Tom Murphy contributed to this report from Indianapolis.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The online map went live Monday, displaying the names, addresses and contact information of some Tesla owners and dealerships and members of the Trump administration in an attempt to whip up further backlash against Musk for his role in the Trump administration. 

Musk condemned the website, writing Tuesday on X: “Encouraging destruction of Teslas throughout the country is extreme domestic terrorism!!” 

The website, which was intermittently inaccessible Wednesday, encourages visitors to commit vandalism, including by using a spray can to “unleash your artistic flair” on a nearby Tesla and through other “creative expressions of protest.” And in a reference to the escalating vandalism of Tesla vehicles and facilities in recent weeks, the cursor on the desktop version of the map is an image of a Molotov cocktail. 

NBC News spoke to six Tesla owners or their representatives who confirmed that at least some information on the website was accurate, though other owners said that in some cases phone numbers or addresses were out of date. 

On Tuesday, someone armed with a gun and Molotov cocktails attacked a Tesla service center in Las Vegas, spray-painting “resist,” firing several shots and torching multiple cars, authorities said. It’s not clear whether the map was tied to the incident.

Tesla Mar 18

Teslas set on fire with Molotov cocktails and shot with gun in Las Vegas attack

Trump administration Mar 18

Judge rules DOGE's USAID dismantling likely violates the Constitution

The website is causing concern among some Tesla owners who fear they or their vehicles could be attacked. 

“Having our personal addresses out there is not something that I think is cool,” said a San Diego Tesla owner named Scott. His family owns two Teslas, and he asked that his name be withheld to prevent harassment. He said they bought the vehicles years ago, before Musk’s alliance with President Donald Trump, and that it didn’t make financial sense to sell them now. 

“I think there’s much more effective ways to protest than attacking individuals’ property,” he said. 

Some other Tesla owners said they weren’t particularly concerned about the site. One said the information listed about them was out of date, and another said personal information had become ubiquitous online anyway. 

The site pushes Tesla owners to join the trend of people selling their vehicles so they can disassociate from Musk. The site says it will take down owners’ personal information if they provide “proof that you’ve sold your Tesla.” 

Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.In a post on X, it advised owners to turn on “sentry mode,” which allows owners to see and record live video from their vehicles’ cameras. 

The site, called “Dogequest,” refers to Musk’s work for Trump as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk has used the position to try to slash federal spending and reorganize whole federal agencies, leading to repeated clashes not only in the federal courts and with Congress but also within the Trump Cabinet. On Tuesday, a federal judge ruled that Musk’s shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development “likely violated the United States Constitution in multiple ways,” a decision that Musk attacked as wrong. 

The map included only a small fraction of all Tesla owners, listing only a handful in some cities where Teslas are relatively common, such as San Francisco. 

It’s not clear who is behind the online map or where they obtained the data they posted. The creators didn’t respond to an email sent to an address listed on the website requesting further information or comment. 

Domain registration records for the website indicated it was registered via an anonymous domain hosting platform called Njalla Okta LLC. 

The map was released following a rise in vandalism against Tesla. Aside from the Las Vegas incident, other reported attacks have involved charging stations in the Boston area and more Molotov cocktails thrown at a dealership in Colorado. On Monday, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office reported that swastikas were painted on multiple Teslas at a dealership. 

Attorney General Pam Bondi has said the attacks on Tesla property are “nothing short of domestic terrorism” and pledged federal investigations. 

The Justice Department and the FBI didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment about the map. 

This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:

• Musk uses immigration and claims of voter fraud to sell Social Security Administration cuts
• Trump fires both Democrats on the Federal Trade Commission
• Amazon AI scammers duped investors out of millions with ‘passive income’ scheme, FTC alleges

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

Petito’s disappearance and death made headlines in September 2021, with authorities launching a nationwide search for the 22-year-old after she’d documented a cross-country road trip with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, on social media.

Laundrie was considered a “person of interest” before he disappeared. He later died by suicide, and a note was found in which he claimed responsibility, officials said.

The three-part series, released this week, features interviews with Petito’s loved ones, as well as photographs, video footage, maps and writing excerpts. A disclaimer in the first episode notes that Petito’s journal entries and text messages were “brought to life in this series in her own voice, using voice recreation technology.”

While directors and executive producers Julia Willoughby Nason and Michael Gasparro told Us Weekly that Petito’s family gave their “blessing” to recreate her voice in the film, viewers online expressed their distaste for the creative choice. Some X users called it “unsettling,” “deeply uncomfortable,” and “wholly unnecessary.” One TikTok video, which has garnered nearly 500,000 views, described the decision as a “step too far.”  

A representative for Gasparro and Nason did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. A spokesperson for Netflix also did not immediately respond.

The use of AI technology like this in documentaries is not new. But audiences appear to remain conflicted about hearing recreations of the voices of people who have died.

In 2021, after AI voice recreation was used to bring written notes to life in “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain,” many fans of the food host, who died in 2018, had similar issues with director Morgan Neville’s creative choice. The filmmaker used a software company to create an “AI model” of Bourdain’s voice. He told The New Yorker that viewers “probably don’t know” which lines are spoken by the AI model.

In his statement to Us Weekly, Gasparro said the filmmakers “had so much material from her parents that we were able to get.”

“All of her journals since she was young and there was so much of her writing. She documented her trips and most of her life from a young age. We thought it was really important to bring that to life,” Gasparro told the publication. “At the end of the day, we wanted to tell the story as much through Gabby as possible. It’s her story.”

Merve Hickok, president and policy director at the Center for AI and Digital Policy, a nonprofit research group, said the general use of voice recreation is not inherently unethical.

Voice cloning to bring to life already public elements to amplify or make them more accessible is an “OK use,” according to Hickok. But issues can arise when filmmakers share confidential content in a deeply personal way. 

“The person made a decision to keep that private,” Hickok said. “And it is not up to us. It’s not up to any of us to make that decision on their behalf after they passed away.” 

“I think especially in a murder case, this person’s voice is taken away against her will, so to come back and recreate that after her for commercial reasons is not ethical, regardless of whether there was a family approval or not,” Hickok added. 

Some of Petito’s family members have since spoken to The Independent about the reaction to the voice recreation, reflecting on their decision to give filmmakers permission. 

“I think it’s weird and because we know her actual voice, [it] is a little off,” Nichole Schmidt, Petito’s mom, told the publication. “It’s just hard to hear.”

“AI or her real voice, I still get upset hearing it knowing she’s gone,” her stepfather, Jim Schmidt, added.

In the future, Hickok, who is also the founder of AIethicist.org, does see the potential benefits of voice cloning for family to make “pre-existing arrangements to use voice as a remembrance after a family member passes away.” 

But, she urged filmmakers to think of the “negative risks,” adding that “there aren’t any regulations to put penalties around this.” 

“I think the film industry has been around for a very long time, and they have very creative ways of creating that emotional reaction,” Hickok said. “So just because there’s a new technology in town doesn’t mean that it has to be used for such purposes.”

This article first appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News here:

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The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

The 23-year-old former recording artist was just five years old when the iPhone was first released, and recalls feeling “inundated by tech” growing up. In recent years, Glorfield noticed that both he and his friends were periodically deleting social media apps in an effort to get control over their screen time. 

“I was spending an exorbitant amount of time glued to my screen, glued to my phone, communicating with fans, friends, etcetera,” Glorfield says. “It just made me very, very unhappy.” 

That desire to unplug — and realizing that he wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed by tech — inspired him to start Kickback, a retro tech brand aimed at Gen Z consumers. The New York-based company sells CD and record players, as well as cameras, speakers and cassette players.  

“We’ve found specific success with products that are really great for actually unplugging,” he says. “That’s the feeling that my generation never really got to experience.” 

Indeed, young people are looking to unplug now more than ever before. In its Future of Wellness 2025 Report, the Global Wellness Summit identified an embrace of retro and analog technologies as one of the dominant trends of 2025.  

This trend is leading Gen Z and young Millennials to embrace retro technologies that have long been replaced by smartphones. Beth McGroarty, the research director at the Global Wellness Institute, tells CNBC Make It that the trend may be fueled by a human desire for tactile experiences rather than by nostalgia. 

“Studies show that people are hard-wired for things like touch since their infancy,” she says. “I think it’s a rebellion against that shapeless, disembodied, throwaway digital world of screens and a hunger for physical objects and tools that are touchable.” 

With music, communication, entertainment and work all consolidated into the same devices people look at all day, McGroarty says young generations increasingly want to disconnect from “that constant onslaught of passive information.”

“When you look at the stats of Gen Z and how much time they’ve spent in front of screens, it’s basically a lifetime,” she says. 

Kickback has brought in more than $500,000 in revenue since launching last year. The startup, Glorfield speculates, has benefited from Gen Z’s desire to push back against the ultra-consolidated world they grew up in by embracing single-use technologies.

“There’s something really nice about taking a walk with a camera and just having that camera to take photos and not having the temptation to dive into your phone or take work emails,” he says. 

Adam Fuerst, who has operated the retro tech site Retrospekt since 2015, says that while high tech devices have made life easy, they’ve also made it “perfect and sterile.” 

“I think the experience really matters to people,” Fuerst, whose site sells Polaroid cameras, Game Boys and typewriters, among other products, says. “The more convenient things get, the more the experience matters and the more valuable the experience gets, even if it’s inconvenient.” 

Retrospekt does $8 million in annual sales, with most of its customers being between 13 and 39 years of age. Though Fuerst says technological advancements have undoubtedly made the world better in a multitude of ways, living our lives online and on a single device is not one of them.

In his view, “we’re working against our human nature” when we deprive ourselves of the ability to hold and use things like cameras and vinyl records.

“There’s just something so meaningful and so special about having that physical object that I don’t think we humans are ready to get rid of,” he says. “These things just have more value in some ways the further away we get from them.”

Want to earn some extra money on the side? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Start a Side Hustle to learn tips to get started and strategies for success from top side hustle experts. Sign up today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 30% off $97 (+taxes and fees) through April 1, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.