Why do people want old technology when the new is so much better?

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When I was a small child, my mother had an old Dansette record player. The Dansette was a nifty little mono 'record player in a suitcase' type contraption. Portable, fun and accessible. Actually if I'm honest, it probably wasn't a genuine Dansette – more likely an unbranded knock off – but none the less I loved it. I had a handful of records to play with and I played them repeatedly. I had story book records, a few musical ones of my mother's and my favourite was her 'original cast' recording of Jesus Christ, Superstar. I played that one until I knew every word. I used to put my Wade Whimsies (small ceramic animals) in the middle of the records sitting on the label and then play the soundtrack to The Jungle Book. I was happy with my Bear Necessities. Time moved on. I worked as a Saturday girl in a record store for 3 years and watched the steady decline of vinyl and the introduction of the CD. Then I lived through the decline of CD and the rise of digital downloads. I could get all nostalgic and tell you that technology destroyed music but I'd be lying – every change made things better. The 3 foot high pile of records in my garage hasn't been looked at in decades. So I was surprised when my sister asked for a modern day version of a Dansette for Christmas. Reading around I learned that vinyl is apparently back in vogue and the little record player in a portable case is this year's big hit. I'm struggling to understand why a younger generation (and my sister) want to pay over the odds for vinyl records that scratch, crack and warp, when they can download perfect sound quality almost instantly. On the other hand, I miss the sleeve notes, the cover art and the era of the 'concept album'. I listen to CDs of albums I had as records and know where I should have to stop and 'turn it over'. I read a What HiFi review which slated these 'neo-Dansettes'. It said the arms were too heavy, the sound quality too poor and that they'd most likely damage your precious vinyl. The review was clearly written by someone with a £3000 sound system and the discernment of an expert – the type who can listen to music and tell you what shape the room it was recorded in must have been and whether there were carpets or curtains. I decided to ignore the experts and get it anyway. If that's what she wants, she can have it. So she might wreck her records but they were sitting doing nothing anyway so where's the harm? But I'm not tempted to get one for myself.