We're going to forgive the fact that the NYT used a non-looping Taylor Swift gif (above).

Instead, let's enjoy this love letter from the NYT to gif technology for Valentine's Day:

Just as the LP has enjoyed a second spin among retro-minded music fans, animated GIFs — the choppy, crude snippets of video loops that hearken back to dial-up modems — are enjoying an unlikely vogue as the digital accessory of the moment.

Hypnotically repeating GIFs are popping up in art galleries in Berlin, Miami and New York. In fashion advertising, they are suddenly as hot as ironic brogues, popping up in online marketing campaigns for brands like Burberry, Diesel and Jack Spade. Online, there are GIF contests both highbrow and low, and “Best of” GIF roundups.

And social media sites like Tumblr have entire pages devoted to viral GIFs plucked from the biggest news events of five minutes ago (political speeches, awkward awards-show moments and other pop-cultural flotsam), which instantly circulate as must-see memes.

“For people in their 20s, GIFs are a relic of their childhood, so it makes sense they would come back as a fashion statement — just like ’70s fashion came back in the ’90s, and the ’90s are coming back around now,” said Jason Tanz, the executive editor of Wired.

Hmmm, the comeback of GIFs is due to nostalgia. 

I thought it was more because nobody has time for videos any more. 

Megan Rose Dickey agrees with me:

In our humble opinion, it has less to do with nostalgia, and more to do with the functionality of a GIF. A GIF can convey an arch, ironic message, which is what you'll see on Tumblr. But it can also provide a quick video-like format.

A GIF is a better version of web video. There is no pre-roll, or post-roll ad. The format doesn't allow for super long boring video, and you get to watch a loop to see what happened.

All the ads on YouTube have really cut down my YouTube consumption. 

With a gif it's nothing but the good stuff.

For example, Mark Sanchez buttfumble:

I could watch this loop for hours.

Still one of my all time favorite gifs is the Iceman, bro:

Wait, I've lost my train of thought. What were we talking about?