Old School Emojis That Speak Fluent Nostalgia

Reliving past technology and the things we left behind with it

A lot of things are left in the past with or without our knowledge and sometimes, even permission. As technology improves, our usage of digital platforms upgrades as well.

We may have antique souvenirs or pictures of such “past technology”, but we no longer engage with them nor use them. It could be a camera, a boom box, or even a CD drive. These are now, without a doubt, part of antiquity.

But. What’s dead may never die.

Old-school technology may not be actively put to use today but it helped us get where we are. And we’re here to revive those sweet memories attached to the things we used in our early years, which now fit into the “nostalgia” box that’s not ready yet for donation.
(Yes, we’re all growing old. Nothing offensive about that).

So, welcome to life before smartphones robbed it all.

Camera Emoji

📷 Camera Emoji

When was the last time you used 📷 to snap a photo? Or the last time you saw someone use it? With inbuilt camera technology on our 📱 Smartphones, 📷 is now a mark of professionalism and no longer that of leisure (if you own a 📸 camera you’re a “photographer”).

Video Camera Emoji

📹 Video Camera

📹 goes even further into the past. Video cameras were not only replaced by a mobile phone, they were eaten alive by the 📷 too!
Poor videocam, smashed by technology.

A video camera today, like the camera is seen mostly in the hands of professionals, like wedding videographers. Common folks are familiar with smartphone videography more than the workings of 📹.

Videocassette Emoji

📼 Videocassette Emoji

📼 is not just a videocassette, it’s a music cassette too, a mixed tape if you will. Pop culture has classified these tapes as old school and that talks a lot about the pace of digitalization because until recently, we all listened to them! (well, most of us).

Hey, I made you a mixed tape.
Omg *sobs*
*audience sobs*
Old school love. Aww.

Flashlight Emoji

🔦 Flashlight Emoji

Sure, a smartphone could never replace the brightness and the coverage of a torch, but we know which is used more, a lot more than the other.

Flashlights are undoubtedly old school, but does that make them obsolete? Not yet. Smartphones may have flashlights designed within them, but those are not nearly as powerful.

The same applies to the 🕯️ Candle as well. When did you last light candles for light and not to make things “special”? Something to ponder.

Television Emoji

📺 Television Emoji

Jesus Christ, are you serious??!

Millennials and others who have the knowledge of and access to streaming sites, apps, and platforms would agree that they haven’t watched TV in a long time.

Bro, anything nice on TV?
Um. Not sure, man. Everything alright?
Hah! Yeah, why?
Are you broke to get Netflix?
Well. Yeah.

It’s all on the phone! Or on your laptop, which sadly makes TV a thing that’s slowly but surely joining the past. Not saying it’s outdated or out of style because come on, THE television could never go out of style. It’s the first thing that taught us what “binge” ever meant.

Floppy Disk Emoji

💾 Floppy Disk Emoji

Omg. Chills.

Floppy disks are ancient. We haven’t actively used these guys in a very very long time. The last time you probably saw one was in your older sibling’s cupboard, suspiciously labeled.

We may have updated platforms for storage now, but doesn’t that make you wonder? Storage spaces like floppy disks and hard disks were so personal back then and now all our storage is online.
Whew, black mirror effect coming to life.

Dvd Emoji

📀 DVD Emoji

Wow. DVDs, movies, DVD players, CDs, geez. We have left a lot of things in the past without consciously knowing that we’re doing it.

Anyone who ever used a DVD would be stunned by the efficiency and speed of present-day online streaming.

The entire act of researching movies, buying the right CDs/DVDs, getting/borrowing a DVD player, and finally enjoying the movie is 💯% nostalgic.

Telephone Emoji

☎️ Telephone Emoji

The ones owning a telephone today are mostly grandparents or aunts and uncles who strongly believe the sole purpose of a telephone/cellphone to be just receiving and making calls. Nothing more nothing less.

Tell you what. They’re not wrong. Connecting via calls was precisely the initial function of cellphones. But, tech has brought us to a pedestal where we have everything and more that we need all on our phones (including social media anxiety, depression, and FOMO).

So, are the oldies missing out on something? Or are we?

Fax Machine Emoji

📠 Fax Machine Emoji

Now, this is something a lot of us cannot relate to. Fax machines! When was the last you sent or received fax? ✉️ Letters are still fine, but fax? Most of us don’t even know how this machine works!

However, there are many parts of the world that still use fax machines; individuals, corporates, companies, etc. The usage of the items on this list is not completely dead but is definitely on the verge of extinction.

Pager Emoji

📟 Pager

Ah! Another old-school gadget. Many hospitals still use pagers. But, that’s it. The bracket closes in on medical institutions, doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals. To the rest of us 📟 is nostalgic.

Radio Emoji

📻 Radio Emoji

If you’re a true Radiohead, you wouldn’t deny that radio and FM (Frequency Modulation) is slowly starting to fade away. The beginning to the end.

We have music on our phones. Even iPods don’t stand a chance. Smartphones are the way of the world right now. Downloadable music, streamable music is the current manner of consumption.

These technologies are not obsolete, yet. The “yet” is the focus of this blog post. You could argue that you still use many of these gadgets, and that’s absolutely awesome! Not many of us do that.

We’re so in love with nostalgia, that we push things into it without complete awareness of our constantly enhancing lifestyles and our need for better. Anything nostalgic is bound to not only bring back memories but to also remind us that the world is moving really fast. Sometimes we can’t catch up and guess what. That’s the best part.