What if the screenless camera everyone's obsessing over, the VHS tapes making a comeback, and your sudden urge to buy a record player are all symptoms of the same thing...we're exhausted by optimization?

In this solo episode, Jamie breaks down the pattern she's been noticing: the pendulum is swinging hard toward analog, friction, and nostalgia. But it's not really about the VHS tape or the 90s. It's about craving a time when you weren't mainlining terrible news every hour, when everything wasn't AI-generated slop, when effort and time created meaning instead of just being inefficiencies to eliminate.

From her four-year-old asking if she's ever been inside a grocery store (answer: basically no) to teaching her kids to sit through an entire vinyl record without skipping songs, Jamie makes the case for intentional friction. Not performative analog aesthetics, but actual choices about where to automate and where to protect presence. Because complete optimization? It makes us hollow.

What We Cover:

[00:00] The Camp Snap camera phenomenon: why people are swarming over a basic screenless camcorder [02:30] The pattern: VHS tapes, kids' landlines, Ralph Lauren Christmas, and millennial nostalgia marketing [04:45] What we're really craving: not the 90s, but being unreachable and protected from the chaos [06:30] AI slop fatigue: when fascinating became suffocating in record time [08:15] The nuance: it's not about rejecting technology—it's about intentionality [09:00] The grocery store story: Jamie's son asks if she's ever been inside one (basically no) [10:30] Adding friction where it matters: vinyl records as events, handwritten notes, presence with kids [13:00] Design application: the two-queen bedroom that took 16 weeks instead of 2 [15:30] Collecting art over time vs. filling walls instantly from Wayfair [17:00] The invitation: where should you automate and where should you add friction?

Quotes Worth Saving:

"The VHS tape, the Camp Snap camera, 90s nostalgia—all of that is showing this desire to disconnect and have protection from the firehose of chaos we're living in."

"When you come across something that feels genuinely human—with personality, mistakes, a strong point of view—it stands out because most of what we're consuming doesn't have that anymore."

"My four-year-old asked me, 'Mom, have you ever actually been in Publix?' And the answer is basically no. I'm happy to automate groceries because I don't care about them."

"When you put on a record, you can't skip to whatever song you want. You commit to the full experience. That friction creates meaning that telling the robot to play music doesn't have."

"You're investing a lot of money either way. Would you rather wait 16 weeks and have it be exactly right, or rush it in 2 weeks and regret it 5 minutes later?"

"Complete optimization makes us hollow. We think we want everything instant and frictionless, but when we get that, something's missing. Friction is where the growth lives."

"Being allergic to the ordinary isn't about doing everything differently. It's about knowing what matters to you and refusing to let convenience steal it."

Your Turn:

Jamie's challenge: Ask yourself these questions:

1. What's one thing you're rushing through that you actually want to savor?
2. What's an area where you've optimized away the experience?

Start with one area. Add the friction back. See what happens.

If ordinary has ever felt suffocating, you’re in the right place.
Follow Allergic to the Ordinary for conversations on identity, ambition, and designing a life that doesn’t play it safe.

Hosted by @jamiegasparovic

A Studio Gaspo production