Not long ago, if you had an old compact digital camera in a drawer, you'd be hard-pressed to get $50 for it. Even a nice one might not fetch $100. With terrible low-light performance, grain in full light, 1080p video if you're lucky and no networking to speak of, obsolescence was total. Now, driven by teens looking for alternatives to what's normal, they are selling like hotcakes. Phoblographer's Nilofer Khan:
I have noted in the past that this could be a trend that would die as nostalgia wears off. However, with more and more reports highlighting a significant rise in these cameras, it is safe to say the camera market is insanely saturated and that having a device that makes a different picture is what people are after.
Ersatz nostalgia. The aestheticization of the crappy sensors and optics (tapping the Brian Eno sign: "Whatever you now find weird, ugly, uncomfortable and nasty about a new medium will surely become its signature"), think Lomography. Cost-effective to people wanting standalone cameras, even given the prices.
To take issue with The Phoblographer's headline, though, they're not selling "for 20x what they're worth," though. They're selling for what people are prepared to pay.
Got one of those old Fujifilms that looks like the fancy new models but actually slides into a pocket? You have got it made.
