13-year-old trades iPod for Walkman, reports on mysterious ancient artifact

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.

[Via Richard Lai]

[aaaa @ Jun 29th 2009 9:29AM]

I'm feeling pretty old as I read this article. I used to have Walkmen too.

[Tim @ Jun 29th 2009 9:31AM]

I'm 24 and this makes me feel old. Can't really imagine not knowing how tapes work...

[xValentine @ Jun 29th 2009 9:35AM]

Damn, I've never had a "Walkmen" before.

[Joshua @ Jun 29th 2009 9:39AM]

Plural, genius.

(In before someone quoting Wikipedia that I was wrong).

[xValentine @ Jun 29th 2009 9:56AM]

Yeah right, let's call Humans, "Humen" from now on.

[ED @ Jun 29th 2009 10:03AM]

And lets call mutants "mutent".

[Blacksheep @ Jun 29th 2009 10:03AM]

I'm 26 and this makes me feel really old! One year for Christmas all I wanted was a Walkman so I could listen to my :cough, cough: MC Hammer tapes anywhere I wanted. Before laughing keep in mind he was well respected in 1990-91! Anyway, I got my walkman and I used to run around outside listening to that thing non stop. I couldn't believe how great it was to be able to take my music with me.

Then I remember getting one of the early discman(men?) in 1994, skip tastic experience is all I can say and quite a lumbering beast of a device, bigger than my old walkman was lol.

The fact that this device is now so ancient a 13-year-old has never even seen one, shocks me incredibly, although I guess it shouldn't. Hey, when I was a kid I listened to my parents vast record collection so I knew how records worked even though cassettes had beaten them out at that point, no excuse on the tapes kids!

[ED @ Jun 29th 2009 10:04AM]

Er, let's.

[j_g_puff @ Jun 29th 2009 10:37AM]

I'm 73, and this makes me feel pretty old.

[ZaxCG2 @ Jun 29th 2009 10:41AM]

Haha... well I'm 20 and I feel old. I can't believe at age 13 kids have never seen a walkman. I guess if they ever did they wouldn't remember it.

[Hex @ Jun 29th 2009 10:47AM]

Hell, I'm only 19, and I feel old reading this... I remember using my Dad's walkman when I was little. Oh, the memories.

[boolean22 @ Jun 29th 2009 12:03PM]

Guys, once I asked my nephew if he knew who Wonder Woman was, and he couldn't answer. He is 13 now, and that was BEFORE the new episodes of Justice League in Cartoon Network... It almost made me cry in despair.

[aaaa @ Jun 29th 2009 12:22PM]

@boolean22

Er, Walkman, Wonder Woman ? Whats the connection ?

@xValentine
By Walkmen, I meant the plural of Walkman. I had 2 of these. Oh, the shame.

[fskn @ Jun 29th 2009 12:41PM]

Well, my girlfriend's nieces were amazed when they played vinyl records for the first time. The oldest one was 14, I guess.

[ghex88 @ Jun 29th 2009 1:00PM]

Now I am very confused, how old is 32 exactly?

[j_g_puff @ Jun 29th 2009 1:15PM]

ghex, it's about 2^5.

[Toy Yoda @ Jun 29th 2009 2:24PM]

And Martians, "Martien".

[TyMaYoJa @ Jun 29th 2009 3:08PM]

@j_g_puff

2^5, classic! well done, lol.

[mikey @ Jun 29th 2009 2:47PM]

I had a walkman back when I was a kid. It had the option to automatically switch sides :D Then I got my hands on a shock protected Diskman... It was a wrap after that. That thing went EVERYWHERE with me lol

[Ridgecity @ Jun 29th 2009 3:23PM]

I call the franch, "the french"...

[MrNuclear @ Jun 30th 2009 12:26AM]

On my Walkman, if you half held the play button and the FF button simultaneously, the songs sounded like they were performed by the Chipmunks.

[chansthename @ Jun 30th 2009 4:01AM]

aaahh the wonders of technology, having chipmunks always ready to sing songs to you.

[Chris Anderson @ Jun 29th 2009 9:28AM]

Analog FTW!!

[kash @ Jun 29th 2009 10:14AM]

Analogue*

[robpetrin @ Jun 29th 2009 10:30AM]

I'M SORRY, I THOUGHT THIS WAS AMERICA!

Both are acceptable... but this story comes from the BBC... so hmmmmmmmm

[j_g_puff @ Jun 29th 2009 10:39AM]

Both are acceptable, but analogue is correct. And analog is wrong.

[slyd3z @ Jun 29th 2009 10:50AM]

What an interesting dialog/dialogue about analog/analogue.

[j_g_puff @ Jun 29th 2009 10:57AM]

Interesting, though slightly off-topic on a gadget blogue.

[Cerebral Poverty @ Jun 29th 2009 11:12AM]

It's an analog iPod analogue.

[fanman @ Jun 29th 2009 11:48AM]

What made you think this was America (or Amrca if you prefer)?

[Chris @ Jun 29th 2009 12:20PM]

What state is the Internet in?

[Greg @ Jun 29th 2009 12:26PM]

state of confusion

[Wwhat @ Jun 29th 2009 12:27PM]

State of Disarray
 
Hopefully

[Patrick @ Jun 29th 2009 12:43PM]

"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"

Is it REALLY clearly evident? The vast majority of MP3s have hissy overtones when high frequencies (eg. cymbals) are reproduced, which is why I don't purchase tunes online unless I can aquire uncompressed or lossless forms.

Love the Porcupine Tree, btw. Best current band out of GB period!

[Idlemind @ Jun 29th 2009 12:42PM]

This reminds me of when I met a chick in a bar and we spoke about my collection of old 45s; and she told me she preferred Rifles.

[Joe @ Jun 29th 2009 12:49PM]

Actually, the internet is in Virginia.

[ghex88 @ Jun 29th 2009 12:56PM]

The kid should try bring that to school and do some moonwalk.

[robpetrin @ Jun 29th 2009 1:01PM]

"I'm sorry, I thought this was America!" is a quote from South Park.

Put down Family Guy for a while and check it out.

The trip from lowbrow to upper-lowbrow will be en experience.

[Nicole @ Jun 29th 2009 1:29PM]

"Is it REALLY clearly evident? The vast majority of MP3s have hissy overtones when high frequencies (eg. cymbals) are reproduced, which is why I don't purchase tunes online unless I can aquire uncompressed or lossless forms."

Portable cassette players always sounded like crap, and you could never get away from the grind of the mechanism either. Considering the cassettes in it were probably pushing 20 years old and in a bad state of magnetic decay, plus the playback head was last cleaned... when? Probably never. In that state, that Walkman probably made the worst 92kpbs non-VBR sound like a audiophile bliss.

[IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII (BarCODE) @ Jun 29th 2009 1:39PM]

Analog and Analogue are not exactly the same. Analog is the correct word.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/analog
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/analogue

[GTMac @ Jun 29th 2009 2:37PM]

Hold that thought while I walk my dogue.

[Ridgecity @ Jun 29th 2009 3:13PM]

That kid sounds like Buzz Lightyear...

[j_g_puff @ Jun 29th 2009 6:04PM]

I know no-one's going to read these comments again (least of all BarCODE), but for what it's worth:

http://www.answers.com/analogue
http://www.collinslanguage.com/results.aspx?context=3&reversed=False&action=define&homonym=-1&text=analogue
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=2714&dict=CALD

They all say that you're not right.

[IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII (BarCODE) @ Jun 29th 2009 7:07PM]

A lumber jack in the forest hauls his Logues down to the river for transporttion to the mill.

[dabrown27 @ Jun 30th 2009 2:48AM]

What rolls down stairs, alone or in pairs, and over your neighbor's dog?
What's great for a snack, and fits on your back?
It's logue, logue, logue!

It's logue, it's logue, it's big, it's heavy, it's wood.
It's logue, it's logue, it's better than bad, it's good.

[dey4gotaus @ Jun 29th 2009 9:29AM]

those were the days ;)

[darkmax @ Jun 29th 2009 10:22AM]

oh yes.... gosh!!! I can't imagine I used to own something that size!!!! This also remind me of the last and thinnest walkman available in the market (a thin cassette holder size device) before I switch to a discman..... Man! I'm old!

[nemo @ Jul 8th 2009 2:57AM]

Oh yes, I had a red one of these: http://www.piazza.ch//images/items/thumbnail_largest.php?item=11264881&image=1

Actually THINNER than a cassette box when closed with no tape in. Auto reverse, FM radio, one AA battery. Awesome, and still working... sort of.

[Oleg @ Jun 29th 2009 11:13AM]

I'm 17 and i just feel old for no apparent reason

[Dave95 @ Jun 29th 2009 2:40PM]

Yeah thanks Engadget, for making me feel old and shievel Today.