Give A 13 Year Old A Walkman

[Cats Cats Cats]

I thought this was an interesting article.  Just think about how many people in their teens might have never seen a walkman.  Or they have only seen their parents cassette collection next to their 8-track collection.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8117619.stm


The below text is from Engadget

If you want to get an idea of just how fast technology moves, a brilliant piece from the BBC should help light the way. The setup is simple enough: 13-year-old Scott Campbell is given a Walkman and told by his dad that it was "the iPod of his day" -- and that's when the fun begins. Having never used or even seen the device, the young man proceeds to experience the kind of equilibrium-destroying confusion which we can only imagine the elderly first felt when attempting to set a VCR timer (you do remember what VCRs are, right?). We've collected a few of the choicest bits from the teen's observations, but we highly suggest you read the full article... you won't be sorry. Our favorite picks (direct quotes):

    * When I wore it walking down the street or going into shops, I got strange looks, a mixture of surprise and curiosity, that made me a little embarrassed.
    * 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.
    * I managed to create an impromptu shuffle feature simply by holding down "rewind" and releasing it randomly - effective, if a little laboured.
    * When playing, it is clearly evident that the music sounds significantly different than when played on an MP3 player, mainly because of the hissy backtrack and odd warbly noises on the Walkman.

[Michael71]

Interesting thing for parents to do.  Would be a good lesson.  Wish someone had one of those old cable boxes that had the A,B,C switch & buttons for corresponding channel.  Also, with the long cable attached.

[Conan71]

Interesting thing for parents to do.  Would be a good lesson.  Wish someone had one of those old cable boxes that had the A,B,C switch & buttons for corresponding channel.  Also, with the long cable attached.

Heh, I'd forgotten about those.  They had the fine tuner dial on the right that would fall out over time.  What were those, like 39 channel boxes? They were a total trip hazard and an unfair weapon in brotherly fights in my house.

[Hoss]

Heh, I'd forgotten about those.  They had the fine tuner dial on the right that would fall out over time.  What were those, like 39 channel boxes? They were a total trip hazard and an unfair weapon in brotherly fights in my house.

We had both generations of those.  The old beige/brown clunker boxes and the newer wood veneer/black 'streamlined' model.

I got pretty good at hurling those at my younger siblings.

[cannon_fodder]

<--- has the Thriller album on LP.  Like, the plastic discs.  Not the small ones either, the big ones that spin kinda slow.

[Mike 01Hawk]

Oh yes!!!

This brings back a lot of fond memories

[swake]

Oh yes!!!

This brings back a lot of fond memories

It's just an older version of this:

[Hoss]

It's just an older version of this:

Yep, but the older one was easier to throw at your brother when he made you mad.

[dbacks fan]

Oh yes!!!

This brings back a lot of fond memories

My mother in her infinite wisdom would turn off the lights and leave the cord just off of the floor to let her know what ungodly hour I would come in at.

Picture it, you unlock the door quietly and close the door quietly walk into the living room without turning on the lights so you don't disturb anyone, take three steps, the box comes crashing off the table send the cats into a frenzy, and you just stand there frozen, knowing in your mind you're busted.

[Townsend]

Oh yes!!!

This brings back a lot of fond memories

Channel 18 was MTV where I lived but was marked "horse racing schedule" for months.

[Hoss]

Channel 18 was MTV where I lived but was marked "horse racing schedule" for months.

Third row down far left side was MTV for me (26) on both boxes.  Espn hasn't moved from 25.

[Conan71]

Anyone remember the movie channel on channel 5?  "The Blob", "Good Neighbor Sam", "Zotz", "The 5000 Fingers Of Dr. T" etc.  What were some of the other titles?  It seemed like there was about a two or three month repeat loop on them.

[swake]

The Prevue Channel was on 13, WGN was 3 and KSHB from Kansas City was on 4. HBO was on 14.