Author Topic: 13-year-old gives up iPod for a Walkman  (Read 2138 times)

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Offline Chris

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13-year-old gives up iPod for a Walkman
« on: June 29, 2009, 11:24:06 PM »
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My dad had told me it was the iPod of its day.

He had told me it was big, but I hadn't realised he meant THAT big. It was the size of a small book.

When I saw it for the first time, its colour also struck me. Nowadays gadgets come in a rainbow of colours but this was only one shade - a bland grey.

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.

Another notable feature that the iPod has and the Walkman doesn't is "shuffle", where the player selects random tracks to play. Its a function that, on the face of it, the Walkman lacks. But I managed to create an impromptu shuffle feature simply by holding down "rewind" and releasing it randomly - effective, if a little laboured.

I told my dad about my clever idea. His words of warning brought home the difference between the portable music players of today, which don't have moving parts, and the mechanical playback of old. In his words, "Walkmans eat tapes". So my clumsy clicking could have ended up ruining my favourite tape, leaving me music-less for the rest of the day.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8117619.stm

http://www.walkmancentral.com/

I had friends with older siblings that had the original Walkman.  My favorite was the Walkman Sport that I used to own... it had a hard plastic case (bright yellow late 80's/early 90's chic) with rubber seals around the edges to keep out water and was pretty durable to make it through four or five years of daily use.  I think I spent my allowance (and later, wages) on batteries, but I used it mostly during the half-hour bus ride to school (and back again).  The Discman wasn't nearly as durable, but the music quality was better.
« Last Edit: June 29, 2009, 11:38:21 PM by Chris »
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Offline SilverOrchid

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Re: 13-year-old gives up iPod for a Walkman
« Reply #1 on: November 12, 2009, 04:09:50 PM »
I miss my old Walkman. The radio worked really well which was rare in Walkmans. I think mine cost $50.