The other night, I was walking aimlessly through the empty port area of Tokyo. As I wandered, I stumbled upon something unexpected: an old public phone booth, still functioning. In a city that thrives on 5G and fiber-optics, this lonely relic from the past stood out, almost like a quiet whisper in the midst of the urban noise.

As I stood there, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of wabi-sabi— in Japanese, the appreciation for the beauty in imperfection and impermanence. But why did this old phone booth evoke such feelings? Perhaps it’s because old technologies like this are so quickly discarded, left to age and fade away. Unlike the sleek, polished gadgets we use today, they carry the marks of time, telling stories of countless conversations and connections.

In a world that constantly moves forward, these remnants of the past remind us of the transient nature of everything around us. They age, they wear, but they endure—holding a certain poetry in their resilience.

Looking at that phone booth, I realized that there’s something profoundly beautiful in these aging technologies. They are a testament to a time when things were built to last, yet they also serve as a reminder that the most advanced technology, is doomed to become a relic tomorrow.

Have you ever encountered an old piece of technology that made you stop and reflect?

‍