Retro is making a comeback: what will be revived next? Retro has a lasting appeal. Things which should be technologically defunct or stylistically obsolete, such as vinyl, black-and-white photography, Polaroids and vintage clothing, have remained popular or enjoyed a revival in recent years. People are prepared to overlook the practical shortcomings of a fragile, decomposable Frisbee and snub its technological descendant, the compact disc. Records never seem to go out of fashion. But what other throwbacks could be coming back? What other delights from yesteryear can overcome their practical deficiencies and reclaim their place? The video: forget DVDs or online streaming, the video is coming back. Who does not fondly remember that wonderful grainy quality and crackly picture? So much closer to the original creation, unspoilt by digital enhancement. Film consumption is too convenient nowadays. No rewinding back the entire film because the last person neglected to do so. No feeding the tape inch-by-inch while simultaneously twisting that wagon wheel with your finger to reel in the piece which got caught on the machine. The video made you earn the right to watch it. And you can't hold an illegally downloaded file. Videos, with their majestic black armour, were a tangible collection that one could admire and show off to friends. Call me nostalgic, but something was lost here. The original mobile: Who among us never owned the glorious Nokia 3310? Touch-screens these days are so impersonal. There are no buttons to caress. And I mourn the loss of predictive texting, which unfailingly generated sentences that bore little resemblance to that intended. And of course, phone internet has completely lost its charm - so mainstream now. I liked having the words and symbols pop up one by one as hours drifted by, before arranging themselves on the screen almost without any logic whatsoever to produce something that resembled a Picasso. Give it time. A revival is imminent. PlayStation One games: Oh the thrill of watching the scenery appear only as the player moved within a certain distance. One could roar down a racetrack and witness houses, trees, even mountains literally pop up like super-fast prefabs. No longer. The travel agent: Before the internet took over, we booked our holidays at this magical institution. Don't you yearn for the time when you could join the back of a cue that snaked infinitely around the waiting room, only to get to the front and be shrugged off with a brochure? The internet can offer a lot, but it can't replicate that shared experience. Dull backgrounds: Up until the late Nineties, interviews with politicians and journalists for the news or documentaries were routinely conducted in front of extremely dour, monochrome backdrops, usually a bookcase stacked with identical volumes of something or other. Why did this stop? Nothing said authority like an intimidating bookcase. Now they sit in front of a window bathed in light or at their kitchen table to show that family is important. Don't worry, someone will soon reverse the trend. Ridiculous sporting droughts: these are being whittled away at an alarming rate. Sure, Brits can now boast a golfing major (after 17 years of waiting), an away Ashes series win (24 years), Wimbledon (77 years) and the Tour de France (forever), but nothing boosted our national pride like being a sporting drought which put other nations to shame. Victories are so obvious; endless, agonising near-misses are so much cooler. Retro is an unpredictable quality. Who knows what will survive or make a comeback? But I reckon the above list contains some pretty safe bets.