Britain yearns for 1980s technology

A third of Brits are secretly yearning a return to 1980s technology in the home.

While the average home has swapped a record player for a PC in the last 25 years, 30 per cent of people prefer soda streams, vinyl albums, 7 inch singles and video cassettes.

However, 53 per cent believe the current era will come to be viewed as the best for home gadget innovation, thanks to the likes of Sky Plus, Nintendo Wii and the iPhone

Research by Halifax Home Insurance reveals 75 per cent of homes now have PCs, 65 per cent have laptops, 45 per cent have iPods and 29 per cent have plasma screen TVs

This compares with 25 years ago, when 68 per cent had a record player in their living room, 51 per cent had a Sony Walkman and 47 per cent had a digital watch.

David Rochester, Halifax Home Insurance head of underwriting, said: "The digital revolution has allowed entire music, film and TV collections to be stored digitally out of sight, but for many people - certainly those old enough to actually remember the 80s - they miss being able to display their tastes around the home for visitors to see."

"We've certainly moved away from having clutter in our homes towards more ordered, neat living spaces - people who had a bulky music system in the 80s, with turntable, cassette decks and giant speakers, for instance, are now likely to have an iPod, which they'll remove from their pocket, slip into a neat speaker docking system when they want some music, and then take away with them they leave the home."

While the UK has embraced technology, the prediction is for better things to come.

Brits predict the average 2033 living room will incorporate giant wall-mounted screens used jointly for TV, surfing the internet and for video phone calls (in 69 per cent of homes), followed by temperature-sensitive central heating (62 per cent), and music systems which pipe music into every room in the home, including the toilet and garden shed (60 per cent).

Also people expect technology to become cheaper.

Mr Rochester added: "The '80s are fondly recalled by many despite of, rather than because of, the styles, gadgets and fashions of the era - and it's highly likely that in 25 years time, we'll be looking back with the same amusement at the iPods and Wiis of today."