Creatives—Be Sustainable. It’s better for your bank account.
Do you really need the latest tech for your art? Let's talk about iPhones.
I opened TikTok this morning to a reel from The Coldest Creative speaking about old iPhones making a comeback. Apparently having the latest iPhone was the ultimate status symbol but now having a “crappy” iPhone is the latest Gen Z trend.
I’m going to start this off by saying this is not a trend. People are broke and it’s not just Gen Z.
Maybe, just maybe Gen Z is reacting to the fact that iPhones are very expensive. I just looked up the price of an iPhone 16 and on my side of the world (Dublin, Ireland) you can buy one from Apple directly starting from €979.
If only you could see how my face screwed up at that price because wtf even is that?
Back in 2020 I bought a refurbished iPhone XS. A phone that was originally released back in 2018. I still use that phone. I believe I have the latest update on it. It works fine—I can send my messages, make calls, be online, take photos and videos of a generally high quality. It does all the things you’d expect an iPhone to do. I really don’t need much else. Maybe some additional memory but I’ve literally bought external hard drives for that because I also think keeping everything on our phones is silly and paying for cloud storage feels like a scam to me—The Nigerian in me won’t allow it
Joel The Coldest started off the reel talking about how the era of yearly upgrades is over.
Yeah because we’re broke and let’s be honest with ourselves Apple has not really brought anything new to the table that’s worthwhile.
Without looking at the specs I know the difference between an iPhone 16 and an iPhone 15 are minor. Now the difference between my iPhone XS and an iPhone 16, I'm sure that transition feels like time travel but for now I’d rather keep my money in my pocket. Actually even when I do decide to upgrade from this fossil, I’ll probably just be upgrading to a newer fossil.
Don’t get me wrong I know for sure there are and will continue to be people who upgrade their phones to each new iteration that comes out. Some people just have it like that. Some people feel they need or simply just want the latest iPhone—that camera quality difference just gets so much better every time. I’m here to tell you it doesn’t. I have bought old digital cameras because I’m tired of doing everything via my phone. I picked up a Panasonic DMC-TZ3 from my local charity shop and with it I care more about taking photos than I do on my iPhone. I feel I’m more intentional with it. I feel like I’ve taken great photos with it. It’s pushed me to figure out how to use Adobe lightroom. All in all being what some might see as cheap has taken me on a more fulfilling journey with my creative output.
So apparently now people are holding onto phones for longer. Brat summer had people longing for the iPhone 5C and Jaqumeus documented Paris Fashion Week on an iPhone 4. Apparently also wired headphones are rising as a fashion accessory amongst Gen Z. I can’t help but laugh at this because I still use wired headphones simply because bluetooth can be annoying and I believe the AUX cord should not die.
Long live the AUX cord!
All of this makes me think about sustainability and being creative. A lot of the time what tech you have only matters so much, it’s more about what you can do with it. How you can push that iPhone or laptop to do the things you want. Yes some tools could make your processes easier but have you figured out how to do your thing with just what you have?
If not I recommend you go on a journey with it. I believe you’ll be surprised by what you find along the way—New ways of doing things. An interesting website. An AI that helps you with your specific thing. Forget about having the latest equipment. It’s killing your creativity.
Be sustainable. Be creative. It’s better for your bank account.