*There is something rather alarmingly comprehensive and well-packaged going on here. And it's British.
http://www.retrowow.co.uk/retro_faq.html
"Modern retro products
"The modern retro product is modern in functionality, but old in look and feel. It is a compromise, an antique that performs as well as a modern product. The retro appeal is less about quality and more about style with a large dose of fun added.
"Retro products give us the past we remember, or don't remember, without the drawbacks. Retro radios don't crackle; retro cars don't need careful maintenance or double declutching.
"The Roberts Revival 250 looks and feels like a radio from the 50s. However, it has modern electronics and there are digital versions available. Roberts also makes some fantastic sixties' style versions in psychedelic rainbow patterns. They are a retro 60s' take on a retro 50s product. Confused? Roberts never made these sets in the sixties and most hippies would have had pocket transistors from Japan. However, they look great, so why should we worry? (((Why indeed?)))
"Radio sets score well in the retro world. There are also two from Bush, the TR82, which is a replica of the TR82 from the 60s, but with FM, and the TR130 replica from 1966. Both are accurate reproductions from the outside, but with modern electronics.
"From the manufacturer's point of view, retro style is a way to differentiate the product. When it is assumed that most radios work reliably, a retro style can be a valid reason for customer choice...."
(((One wonders why we still have a 1950s, and why we are not simply offered a variety of streamlined marketable versions of the 1950s(TM). Wouldn't a market-friendly, fully-monetizable version of the past be much more efficient than our messy and contrary actual past? Maybe it wasn't "really" that way at all, but if that's what we're willing to pay for....)))
