Posted on 06/29/2009 11:46:50 AM PDT by ShadowAce
When the Sony Walkman was launched, 30 years ago this week, it started a revolution in portable music. But how does it compare with its digital successors? The Magazine invited 13-year-old Scott Campbell to swap his iPod for a Walkman for a week.
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.
So it's not exactly the most aesthetically pleasing choice of music player. If I was browsing in a shop maybe I would have chosen something else.
From a practical point of view, the Walkman is rather cumbersome, and it is certainly not pocket-sized, unless you have large pockets. It comes with a handy belt clip screwed on to the back, yet the weight of the unit is enough to haul down a low-slung pair of combats.
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.
As I boarded the school bus, where I live in Aberdeenshire, I was greeted with laughter. One boy said: "No-one uses them any more." Another said: "Groovy." Yet another one quipped: "That would be hard to lose."
My friends couldn't imagine their parents using this monstrous box, but there was interest in what the thing was and how it worked.
In some classes in school they let me listen to music and one teacher recognised it and got nostalgic.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
They may as well—it’s not like the schools are teaching them anything useful anyway.
I mostly use it to listen to AM radio, which is great because the batteries last practically forever, well past the point that you could hear a cassette. Heavy for the job, but I like the feel of it.
It's my third walkman. My first was actually a no-name brand (yellow) and my second was a Sony with a 3-band graphic equalizer, making it just bulky enough and heavy enough that no one in the mailroom wanted to borrow it unless they had no other choice. (College job on Wall street).
The headphones are long gone. And the belt clip broke off one day while it was on my belt. And the cassette door has its problems. But I aint ready to get rid of it yet. My wife is used to it. I leave it by the door and she doesn't complain that it's there. It's my "walking music" for trips to the store.
Geez, you should've seen what they were walking around with just a few short years before the Walkman. They were still around when the walkman arrived.
This might give you an idea:
I tried selling a Magnavox Walkman at our church yard sale last year...still have it along with my college slide-rules(they didn’t sell either).
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I thought I was the only one who kept their old walkman. I also use mine for AM radio. I love to go walking and listen to Rush, or Mark Levin, or Dennis Miller.
Makes the time pass and you burn a lot of calories.
While may cassette-player-equipped car still works, I’m working thru my tape collection one last time and tossing each when finished (save for a few gems to digitize).
I had a Sports walkman, bright yellow, with a flip-top lid with little gaskets around the edge to seal it up and be ‘water-resistant’.
I still recall mowing the lawn and listening to Pyromania on that thing. Till it ate my tape.
I still recall mowing the lawn and listening to Pyromania on that thing.
Was in high school doing the exact same thing. Loved that walkman, till it ate my tapes.
i have a black walkman i use when i bike. radio and cassette works and i have a bunch of new age, soundtrack, and classical tapes in the basement, as well as some books on tap. they still play. also have a portable cd player i got from goodwill for $5. i may start using that to listen to books on cd while i stationary bike.
Might be collectible, some are still valued, I'd check eBay or craigslist before I tossed them.
>>Loved that walkman, till it ate my tapes.
I recall having to run the cassette cleaner on it once a week otherwise it turned into Rosie on a seefood diet.
Had one of those. Couldn’t use it. Skipped while I walked. Used it in my car once or twice but it was too much of a distraction while driving.
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