The Great Re-Physicalization Of Everything

I have a big love for film photography, ever since one of my old friends introduced me to it in 2019. Yes, the oldskool way of taking pictures. Your camera holds a roll of film, which you can use to take 34 pictures on. There is no way to see how the picture will look before you take it, or after you took it. The result is that you have to trust your eye and you have to trust the moment. Why it is fun? I find it pure. No editing to save your ass (I mean you could technically edit your pictures, but then you kinda loose the point of it right?), no 200 pictures of one moment to make sure you get one perfect one. It’s raw, unfiltered, very real. From the moment you took a picture you can already start wondering and imagining how it will turn out to be.

Then when the film is done, you have to bring your roll to a developer (which are sometimes hard to find). Some of them will get you your scans back by email within a couple of hours, if you are lucky. The excitement, from the moment your roll is full until you get the images, is a big part of the joy. Did I catch a money shot?

Over the last six years, I definitely took some of those money shots if you ask me!! Haha! Here’s is one of my all-time favorites:

I did go back to trying digital photography when I moved to Bali. It’s been fun! Buttttt…. seeing how incredible the AI tools have become over the last 12 months, I thought by myself damn… digital photography is almost becoming too easy? So guess what, on my last trip to Bangkok I went back to bringing just my film camera with me and I loved it again. See one of my favorite shots from that roll:

Ok but no worries, I am not here to make you guys pick up a film camera (although if want to, hit me up 😉). This does lead me to sharing the thoughts I have had in my head for a while now. What will the countermovement to AI be?

It is pretty clear that anything can be generated in the next few years. Anything can be done on the internet with just a few clicks (or just thoughts?). It will all look perfect, made for you personally, at the exact right emotional moment. But just like digital photography can get you a highly polished, perfect picture. Not everyone wants that, all the time, right?

As brand builders, marketeers, entrepreneurs, we always try to see where the world is moving so that we can adapt to certain trends that are going to pop up. While everyone is rushing to be as AI as possible, put AI into everything and optimize things (with AI) to the maximum. Let’s look at the counteract towards that, which in my humble opinion, will the be the re-physicalization of everything..

Before we come to what that means, let’s look at other countermovements. With the rise of one trend, another rose as well.

Countermovement trends that we have seen before

Film vs. Digital Photography
I already talked about it at length in the introduction, sometimes the “mistake” you make in film photography is what makes the picture unforgettable. That imperfection is the point. And I guess I am not the only one who agrees with me! The numbers are there.

Kodak literally had to pause parts of its Rochester factory last year because they couldn’t keep up with film demand. Their beloved Kodak Portra 400 film roll has also skyrocketed in prices last few years, you easily pay 20-30 EUR per roll these days..

Another interesting one is the Fujifilm’s Instax cameras. Not really film cameras, but same point. Physical over digital. They’ve grown into a billion-dollar business, driven by younger generations who crave physical keepsakes.

Vinyl vs. Streaming

Streaming gives you every song ever made for ten bucks a month. Yet vinyl keeps growing in popularity. Why? Because dropping the needle, flipping a record, and holding the artwork is an experience you can’t swipe.

The proof: vinyl sales in the US hit $1.4 billion in 2024, marking the 18th straight year of growth. Records outsold CDs for the third year in a row and now make up almost three-quarters of all physical music revenue.

Fun fact, one my brothers has a vinyl collection of 352 records at the moment. Makes it easy to buy him birthday gifts by the way 🤣.

Board games vs. Video games

As most of you know, I am a big gamer. Gaming is everywhere and it influences everything, but that is a whole article on its own haha! You’d think with PlayStation, Switch, and games on every phone, Catan or Monopoly board games would be dead. Nope. Board games are thriving because they force us to gather around a table, argue over rules, and share snacks.

A great moment for human connection, physically, which is a different feeling than online gaming. Because yes, I am the last person to say that online gaming isn’t about connection or relationships. It’s just different and I love both!

The global board game market was worth $12–14 billion in 2024 and is forecasted to grow into the $20–30B range over the next decade. In the US and Canada hobby market alone, sales stayed steady at $2.8B in 2024, proving it’s no fad.

Trading Cards vs. In-Game Items

Online games made digital items mainstream. Skins in Fortnite or Roblox are real status symbols, entire economies have been built around them. You’d think that would kill the appetite for old-school physical card collectibles. But it didn’t. In fact, trading cards are having one of their strongest runs ever.

Target says card sales jumped ~70% in Q2 2025, putting the category on track for $1B this year. PSA graded 20 million cards in 2024, their busiest year on record.

(Quick note: “grading” is when companies like PSA or BGS authenticate a card, judge its condition on a 1–10 scale, and seal it. A perfect 10 can multiply the value tenfold.)

Some of these cards have become long-term collectibles and even an investment category. The numbers prove it: a 1952 Mickey Mantle card sold for $12.6M, a Pokémon Illustrator Pikachu card for $5.3M, and a LeBron James rookie patch auto for $5.2M showing that cards still commands record-breaking prices in a digital-first world

This all happened, beforeeee there was AI. What all these examples show is simple: every time digital takes over, the physical doesn’t vanish. In many cases, it gets stronger. And with AI about to flood every corner of our digital lives, the appetite for physical, tangible, in-person will only accelerate.

The early signals that it’s already happening

A few months ago I got introduced to a new concept: a third place. A place that is not 1) your home and not 2) your work place, where you can go to hangout. Maybe work, chill, game, meet friends, enjoy a nice coffee. Whatever it is. The popularity has been on the rise in the US and especially Asia. In Europe, third places are (for examples) your favorite coffee store or cafe. But this is currently taken even further in other parts of the world. Entrepreneurs are building specific spaces just for this purpose, it feels like a home away from home. Not really just a coffee store, just a book store, but a vibe. Something a certain group of people could potentially heavily connect with.

In Asia these places are already becoming very mainstream. One of my good friends here on Bali, has been living in Asia for the past 13 years. He still travels all over Asia as freelance creative consultant, after doing massive projects like repositioning the complete Volkswagen brand for the Asian market as lead Creative Director. Just to say, that I trust (almost 😉) all his takes and insights! When I was talking him about third places he shared one of his recent Japan trips where he bumped into one of these places.

A very living room feel where people would pay a certain fee for entry, next to the (slightly discounted) food & beverage prices. Why a fee? Because if you want people to just come and hang, you can’t “sell” a table every hour or so. The economics have to make sense of course for the entrepreneur. And I think that is part of the trend that we will see emerge more and more.

People will be willing to pay MORE for physical, human-connection-driven, experiences and products. I talked about an example before when we were discussing humanoids in an earlier article (click). Let’s take my big love: coffee.

I 100% believe that, for example Starbucks, will have fully robot automated stores all over the world. They will be able to pour your favorite coffee, exactly how YOU personally want it, in the same perfect way, whatever store you walk into. Costs you probably a few euros and done in 2 minutes. Do I like this? Of course! When I am on my way to a flight, or to a meeting, or any other moment I just need quick coffee. I much rather have the perfect cup delivered by robots in a few minutes, than a human-made shitty version of coffee (sorry to all the shitty coffee ❤️).

But, on the other hand, will there be days where I really want to enjoy a great cup of coffee in a warm place, bring my girlfriend or meet friends. Crafted with care by passionate coffee people like myself, where I can sit and enjoy, maybe bring my book. Absolutely true too. That is also the place where I am happy to pay MORE for that same amazing cup of coffee, because it comes with so much more. These places won’t disappear because of the competition of robot coffee shops, they will thrive because we will crave for the human connection and vibe.

Taking the physical into digital, or taking digital into physical?

Another phenomenon that I recently got introduced to when I had a great conversation with one of the founders of RTFKT is taking digital stuff into the physical world. When the metaverse boom happened a few years ago, you saw a lot of brands, companies and creators take whatever they made in the physical world and turned that into digital versions.

An example we always used was the Gucci handbag in Roblox becoming more expensive than the physical version.

Now I do think this still makes sense for a lot of brands. In short. Buying brands is about showing other people what you stand for, what your values are. That is it bottom line. I want to show people that the values of, for example, Arc'teryx or Nike connect with me. Showing others that those values are important to me, therefore showing a bit who I am. In sports it becomes even clearer. I wear an Ajax Amsterdam jersey to show the rest of the world that I support Ajax. So if someone spend hours a day in virtual worlds, they will also want to potentially show of their favorite brands because they are a part of that identity or persona. So for brands, be there, so they can.

What I did not expect immediately though is that large groups of people, especially Gen-Z and younger, are now bringing the virtual world into the physical world. There are massive rave parties where people show up with their self-3d printed outfits. Outfits based on characters they designed virtually. Accessories that look like things straight out of videogames.

Here’s a great example. Sao House in Detroit is looking to become a third place for exactly this target audience. They are combining gaming, rave culture, a bit of hip-hop, 3d printing andddd coffee! The result? Check out their coffee cup. Oh the cool part, they will release all the files to their community so they can 3d print and build their own.

This trend will continue

These are just early signs of what is to come in my opinion. This is also the same reason why I think, for example, sports will only go up in value. It is entertainment that can’t be generated, copied or faked. The stories of athletes are as real as it gets, and maybe even more important: they are scarce. Will humanoid sports becoming a thing? Probably 🤣. But that won’t take away from football, basketball or other major sports. In the contrary, I think more “normal” sports will go mainstream. A combination of the human factor and streaming, will turn the most random sports into online phenomena. Never forget that the, at that time, world’s best chess player, Garry Kasparov, was beaten by an AI back in 1997, but AI vs. AI chess matches never turned into a thing people cared about.

The same will go for live music performances, or local sports teams. Maybe we will see a resurgence of book clubs? Independent bookstores are already on the rise as 323 new stores opened in 2024, fourth year in a row with 200+, in the US alone.

Closing Thoughts

I can go on with other examples or areas where I think things will thrive because of this trend. But I believe the message is clear; don’t underestimate the physical, in fact, maybe double down on it.

Every big tech leap makes us assume the old world will disappear, but instead, the opposite happens. Parts of our physical side of life doesn’t just survive, it becomes more valuable.

AI will handle the frictionless stuff. It’ll write, design, serve, optimize. Great. But the things we’ll remember? The dinners with friends, the packed concert, the board game night, the ritual of dropping a needle on vinyl. Those are built on human-to-human connection. That’s the scarcity of the future.

If you’re building a brand, don’t only ask what’s my AI play? Start asking how do I double down on community? Where do you bring people together? What physical touchpoints make them feel part of something bigger? How do you design moments that can’t be screenshotted?

Because the future won’t be won by those who go “all digital.” It’ll be won by the ones who mix the best of both: speed and scale from tech, depth and loyalty from community. Human connection will thrive at the center of it all.

Digital makes things efficient. Physical makes things meaningful. And in a world of endless algorithms, meaning is what people will pay for.

Much love,

Funs ❤️ 

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^{Over the years, I’ve navigated industries like advertising, music, sports, and gaming, always chasing what’s next and figuring out how to make it work for brands, businesses, and myself. From strategizing for global companies to experimenting with the latest tech, I’ve been on a constant journey of learning and sharing.}

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