This is just a quick pointer to a hilarious post I ran across this morning: BBC Magazine invited 13-year-old Scott Campbell, to wear a vintage Sony Walkman for a day. He took the challenge seriously, and wrote up his impressions of the Walkman versus the modern equivalent.
Some choice excerpts:
"It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape."
"I managed to create an impromptu shuffle feature simply by holding down 'rewind' and releasing it randomly."
"I'm relieved that the majority of technological advancement happened before I was born, as I can't imagine having to use such basic equipment every day."
The only advantage Campbell found for the Walkman was the fact that it had two headphone jacks, allowing listeners to share their favorite tunes with a friend. He also noted that the battery life was terrible at about 3 hours, but neglected to point out the (perhaps obvious) fact that at least the Walkman lets you get to the batteries to replace them--you don't have to send it back to the manufacturer or risk voiding your warranty. Another point I'd make for Campbell or other intrepid explorers: some Walkmans had a "reverse" switch on them that let you change to the other side of the cassette--that could be another nifty way to create an equivalent to the iPod's shuffle feature.
Now wait until he discovers Minidisc!
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