Except it was called a Sony Walkman. Recently, 13 year old Brit Scott Campbell gave up his iPod for a Sony Walkman for a week, 30 years after the Walkman came onto the scene.
You can check out all his thoughts on the Walkman. My favorite is, "It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape. That was not the only naive mistake that I made; I mistook the metal/normal switch on the Walkman for a genre-specific equaliser, but later I discovered that it was in fact used to switch between two different types of cassette."
Typical male...didn't read the instruction! Seriously though, maybe it wasn't such a silly mistake. He probably never saw a cassette tape growing up. The only tapes he was likely to have encountered were VHS tapes that only have one side, and I am not sure how many of my friends knew about the different types of tapes back when Walkmans were common!
These came out when I was in middle school. By the time high school started, we were all listening to them on the bus on the way to field trips and sporting events. They eventually gave way to portable CD players before MP3 players took over.
Next step is to figure out how to get rid of the wires. I know some wireless headphones exist, but they tend to be large and bulky so I wouldn't use them when I run anyway (and I hate the wires bouncing around!) You can buy MP3 player sunglasses but they are heavy and uncomfortable as well. That is the next advance I want to see. I am sure it is only a matter of time.
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3 comments:
Gee, I remember the transistor radio. I skipped the walkman era for some reason. You have to smile looking at the size! My kids had the portable cd players, but they skipped if jostled... quality was not really there.
Now I have my teeny mp3 that I love, love, love! The sound quality and the storage capacity is unbelievable. It will even display lyrics if you have space to burn and the eyesight to read the small print. All that and it fits inside your palm.
But why is it that people wait until you are "plugged in" to have a conversation?
I love the thing about not realizing there was another side to the tape and the metal/normal switch. I used a Walkman-type player occasionally, but not often. I have an mp3 player now, but have never used it. If I want to listen to something, I listen to it on the computer or in the truck.
I had one, I thought I was cooooooooool! :)
Also the one the that plays cds.
Ahh now I have all my music on my phone. No need for any thing else. And I can play it through the car stereo too.
We should all get together and have an old electronics rummage sale. LOL
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