Did You Own A Walkman?

[Igottago]

In my formative music listening years around mid-elemantary school through to junior high, my walkman never left my side. I was late to the party with CD's..by junior high they were everywhere but I still used the walkman more often than not. Even in high school, I remember making mix tapes to listen to in the car etc, although by that time I also had a discman.

I would never trade the convenience of an Ipod for those old technolgies though. Carrying my entire collection around in a small, easy to use, great sounding, long lasting device...pretty much trumps nostalgia any day.

I agree regarding mix tapes (or CD's, or playlists)...it seems that most ipod users let the device shuffle the songs. That's great sometimes, but I actually still really enjoy carefully making really good playlists on my ipod. Its a lot quicker than its ever been, and I'm not limited to the time constraints of tape or cd.

[Ironhorse]

My first walkman.

I felt very "advanced" the day I purchased it.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Igottago

I agree regarding mix tapes (or CD's, or playlists)...it seems that most ipod users let the device shuffle the songs. That's great sometimes, but I actually still really enjoy carefully making really good playlists on my ipod. Its a lot quicker than its ever been, and I'm not limited to the time constraints of tape or cd.

Alot of my favorite songs I still associate with the song that came after it on the original album, or whatever song I put after it on a badass mix tape that I listened to a few thousand times. I wonder if shuffle-era kids have that at all.

[Fugly]

I saw a guy sporting a disc man the other day and I had to do a double-take to figure out what the hell it was. He was at a cross walk down on 17th Ave. Then I had to check if I was driving a Delaurian and accidentaly hit 88 mph and went back in time.

The first walkman I ever bought was at Consumers Distributors (I think that’s right?) using their handy catalogue.

[CrusaderPi]

Originally Posted by Fugly

I saw a guy sporting a disc man the other day and I had to do a double-take to figure out what the hell it was. He was at a cross walk down on 17th Ave. Then I had to check if I was driving a Delaurian and accidentaly hit 88 mph and went back in time.

The first walkman I ever bought was at Consumers Distributors (I think that’s right?) using their handy catalogue.

Awww yeah! Consumers Distributors! My first stereo (ghetto blaster) and TV came from there. While the TV is no longer with us, the stereo is currently sitting on top of my washer blasting sports radio when I do laundry.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by 4X4

I remember having to actually talk on the phone to girlfriends. No such thing as text messaging. I was one of the really lucky kids that had a dedicated "kids line" so that my parents wouldn't be picking up the extension and telling me they needed to use the phone.

I also remember the temptation of stealing tapes from the store to get music I couldn't afford.

And if you remember the phrase "Please be kind, rewind", you're old like me.

I must rent my DVDs right after you because they are NEVER rewound.
http://www.uncoolcentral.com/DVDrewind.htm

I remember one of my friends got a ghetto blaster that played 8-tracks. Oops. Well, that AC/DC 8-track got a LOT of play.

And speaking of mix tapes, there are still some songs that, when I hear them (now called "oldies" *tear*) I can still recall the song I had coming up next.

And there are songs I taped off radio I can still recall the DJ speaking over the start (or end) of the track.

[MissTeeks]

I loved my yellow Sony Sport Walkman because it had the dual headphone jacks and my friends and I could listen to Ace of Base together on the bus the whole way home from school. That's right, Ace of Base!

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Alot of my favorite songs I still associate with the song that came after it on the original album, or whatever song I put after it on a badass mix tape that I listened to a few thousand times. I wonder if shuffle-era kids have that at all.

even with my ipod i still usually listen to full albums at a time. i only ever set my ipod to shuffle when i haven't ripped/downloaded any new music in awhile and have no new bands to listen to

[Ford Prefect]

Originally Posted by 4X4

I remember having to actually talk on the phone to girlfriends. No such thing as text messaging. I was one of the really lucky kids that had a dedicated "kids line" so that my parents wouldn't be picking up the extension and telling me they needed to use the phone.

I also remember the temptation of stealing tapes from the store to get music I couldn't afford.

And if you remember the phrase "Please be kind, rewind", you're old like me.

Pfffft. Old like you indeed. They hadn't even invented rewind yet when I was kid. Colour was only invented when I was 2.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by Ford Prefect

Pfffft. Old like you indeed. They hadn't even invented rewind yet when I was kid. Colour was only invented when I was 2.

Yeah, I'm being a bit of a drama queen there.

Remember video cameras? My dad, ever the guy that always had to buy the coolest, latest gadget, brought one home when I was about 12. It was one of those big f'rs that came in a big fat briefcase. I was always assigned the task of figuring out how to use his new toys and teaching him so that he didn't have to read the manual. I remember playing with that thing for awhile.

And cell phones. I still clearly remember my dad calling me one day at my mom's house and telling me he was going to pick me up in 5 minutes. He told me he was talking on a mini telephone that fit in his shirt pocket. I remember imagining an actual desk type telephone with a fat base and a cord and an earpiece and microphone - just minature. When I saw that brick, I was just amazed.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Oh man... I remember the days of taking transit everywhere, with my trusty bus pass and my big yellow walkman. Then, for xmas in ~1994, my mom bought me a discman. It was a high school kid's dream come true.

Kids these days (grumble) have no idea what it was like to have to carry around tapes and CDs in their backpacks. Actually have to go to a library to do research for reports. No such thing as email, facebook. Maybe one or two kids in the group had internet at home and we'd all crowd around their 386 (my first computer was a 286) and go online via AOL.
Hell, if you wanted to meet up with a friend, you had to call his or her house and likely deal with one of the parents before getting through to your friend. And if you were out, you'd have to use an icky pay phone.

I can't believe the advancement in technology I've witnessed in my 30 years.

(technology nerd mode : on)

Definately. I think the technology age is an era in itself, from hunter/gathers, to agriculture/urbanization, industrial age, and now this is the tech age. Usually it takes ~10 years for technology to get accepted by a large portion of majority (though that is speeding up, fast) so cutting edge stuff coming out now should see the market place in 2015-2020. 3D television, RFID's replacing keys and maybe even carrying medical info, exoskelatons, medical diagnostics, cell phones replacing laptops to some extent if ultrawideband technology pulls out from out of the gutter... saying that, I think the somewhat-short era of memory is coming to a halt and we won't see faster computers with more memory. Instead, I think we'll see more efficient and global systems, both from a software and hardware level (i.e. internet browsers replacing operating systems and so on).

Funny though, I didn't get a cell phone until about 2 years ago. I either told people to call my girlfriends phone or my best friends phone if they needed to get ahold of me outdoors. (otherwise, I'd be at school or I'd email/MSN accessible) As a consumer, I'm a little anti-technology especially for someone working in the field.

[4X4]

Wanna elaborate on exoskeletons? What are your referring to? Are we going to become insects? Imagine the ant overlord jokes...

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Wanna elaborate on exoskeletons? What are your referring to? Are we going to become insects? Imagine the ant overlord jokes...

Basically a external support for people who need support (i.e. old people to carry groceries, maybe rehab and so on. With people who suffer from stroke or something like that, there are hypothesis out there that repeated mind and physical actions that correlate will help cause non-specialized nerves or non communicating nerves to communicate (think 2 sides, nerves are firing the same message, sooner or later they might have a line of communication)... or something like that, this really isn't my area of expertise. I think the driving force of this is the retiring baby boomers (i.e. old guys like Dion )

[Flames_Gimp]

i had one of these bad boys

[habernac]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Yeah, I'm being a bit of a drama queen there.

Remember video cameras? My dad, ever the guy that always had to buy the coolest, latest gadget, brought one home when I was about 12. It was one of those big f'rs that came in a big fat briefcase. I was always assigned the task of figuring out how to use his new toys and teaching him so that he didn't have to read the manual. I remember playing with that thing for awhile.

I filmed a pal's wedding with one of these things. I don't think the knot has ever left my shoulder.

[SportsJunky]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

haha, I had the same model shown in the article

Ditto.

[KTrain]

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

i had one of these bad boys

So did I. It was awesome. I remember listening to Michael Jackson's Thriller on that and being scared less when Vincent Price came on.

[Hanna Sniper]

The sound of an analog recording on an analog tape is far superior then a compressed sound of a mp3... only drawback is, the tape is temperature sensitive and short lifespan.

[MissKat]

Everyone owned a walkman, I had a discman too. Oh the good old days when we paid $300 for our discmans

[4X4]

Originally Posted by MissKat

Everyone owned a walkman, I had a discman too. Oh the good old days when we paid $300 for our discmans

Indeed. But how many of you were as cool as me and owned one of these: