MECHANISM VS TECHNOLOGY: OR A FAD?

The window display in an up beat shop caught my eye. Piled one on top of each other were portable record players circa the fifties.  Each player was a different size and color.  Each had a 75 rpm,vinyl record on its turn table.

 Not an iPhone. Not a smart phone.  No curly cues, just plain, ordinary looking portable record players.  So what's the difference between this mechanism and the technology we now have to listen to music?

My guess is it may be lonely as an audience of one on an iPad when a record player lets you share music with others.  Or is it just another fad?