Ask HN: Why do certain tech elicit non-technical romanticism?
Technology in general fall into obscurity as they get superseded by superior advancements, and most of the enthusiasm chasing tech do so for the sophistication of the bleeding edge, with no reason to look back at “outdated” technology.<p>However, certain technology, despite having been superseded by technically superior successors, retain a degree of irrational enthusiasm based on the perceived mystique rather than objective advantages. And it is not some sort of retro-cool sentimentalism, rather it generally happens in the immediate wake of the introduction of a disruptive replacement that is better by every metric, yet the romantic culture developed around the current technology still continues to hold.<p>For example, the end of the Age of Sail is brought about by fuel-powered propulsion, yet despite them quickly supplanting the use on the seas, the aura around sail ships never really went away.<p>Another example, while it’s not purely irrational as there still exist practical advantages of the older tech, but I cite it anyways because the underlying drive is still romantic in nature, is that of the “analog” gasoline cars vs the emergence of computerization or electrification.<p>I love them both, but I can’t seem to rationally explain where the romanticism stems from. I wonder if there are some sort of sociological theory or categorization that describes, and perhaps predicts, this phenomenon?