Were they really that big?
I kind of love the concept that led to this article: Give a modern 13 year-old a Sony Walkman (first released 30 years ago) in exchange for his ipod for a week, and have him document his impressions.
Not surprisingly, he wasn’t necessarily impressed. And rightfully so – I remember the actual Sony hardware, with it’s clunky buttons, crappy battery life, chunky headphones, ever-present tape hiss and hotel-bible sized convenience costing over $100 in 1980s dollars. Compare this to the 4 gig Sansa Clip I picked up last year – 700-odd songs, digital quality, 10 hour rechargeable battery life, backlit LCD and a pretty good FM tuner, all in a box the size of a book of matches – for 40 bucks. There’s no comparison; modern tech wins out.
Still, at the time, the Walkman (and even the cheap knock-off cassette players I used because I couldn’t afford a Sony) was a revelation in convenience, at least compared to the big boom box radios without headphones we had to haul around before them (walking to school both ways uphill in the snow barefoot….).
Anyway, I for one, welcome progress; when was the last time your ipod ate your favorite album?
Now, get off my lawn, kid.
I had to laugh at the discovery that the tape had another side.
June 30th, 2009 at 1:35 PM