Posted on 04/15/2014 9:47:23 AM PDT by C19fan
Children's perplexed reactions to a Sony Walkman have been caught on camera, with the majority frustrated at operating clunky buttons over a touch screen. Los Angeles-based filmmakers Benny and Rafi Fine asked volunteers aged six to 13 to guess what the bulky device was, with suggestions including a 'walkie-talkie' or 'boombox'. 'What is this?' one nine-year-old girl quizzed as she investigated the Eighties-era cassette player, while another exclaimed 'I'm not going to give up, I'm a survivor,' as she determinedly tried to figure out how it worked.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
There’s another one of kids being shown a rotary phone. It’s a hoot..
This seems so weird, but I keep forgetting that these kids were born mostly after 9/11.
Even though I was born in the 70s, I was keenly aware of what all sorts of devices were that were from the early 20th century to the 60s. That just shows how little changed in that period compared to the years since. I suppose that many of the movies and cartoons that were still widely shown at the time were easily made in the 40s and 30s, so there is that too.
Back in the day, the Sony walkman was the bomb. It was expensive, high tech and enjoyed exclusivity for years, even as knock offs flooded venue by venue until they reached the bottom of the market....convenience stores and carnival prizes. Eventually, the .mp3 format and the iPod killed off the cassette based walkman and it’s many daughters. When you see the current success and fad of the iPad...That’s what the walkman was like back in those days.
They’d really be confused by the 8 track player I had in my first car.
We used to have to get up and walk over to the t.v. to change the channel.
Yep! I remember the day the guitar player in our band brought over his brand spanking new Sony Walkman. We were SO amazed with it! And how SMALL it was! And the sound was JUST like our big stereos.
Seems like just a few years ago. Funny to think that this thing is in a MUSEUM now.
Same goes for another friend’s TRS-80 computer...
I believe it is all in the American History Museum. Definitely worth a visit.
We ended up with an old rotary phone recently. My nephew found it at a construction/demolition job he was working on and brought it home for his sister's kids to play with. They didn't get it, and one of them started crying when given the "phone" to play with. He was expecting an iPhone or something similar, not this weird thing that didn't even have a screen! We volunteered to give it a new home, and may actually start using it.
IMHO, the 8 track was better. At least you could jump between songs. I grew up with cassettes and that drove me nuts. (I wanna hear it again! Good luck...!)
“Even though I was born in the 70s, I was keenly aware of what all sorts of devices were that were from the early 20th century to the 60s.”
The twenty-something’s are not nearly as widely read or informed as we were. Many have never seen a black and white movie and seem proud of the fact. They aren’t interested. Another possibility is their parents are not as informative. I was dragged to antique shows and gun shows and given constant input on the importance of this or that item at the time. I think later parents use video as a way off keeping the kids entertained while they go off and do things not involving the kids. I was fascinated by the fact my mom road a horse to school and the neighbor boys brought their rifles to school so they could hunt on the way home. (If they shot something the family had meat. If not, then no.) The past is fascinating. I wonder how they’d respond to the 45 rpm record player you could buy as an under-dash option.
Ya. Apparently they still make cassette tapes.
[They’d really be confused by the 8 track player I had in my first car. ]
The hand crank wax cylinder on my boggy will really confuse them then....
As a kid in the 70s I remember being the remote control:
hey change it to 13
that’s loud turn it down a touch
and jiggle the rabbit ears see if you can get rid of that snow
Who remembers those 8 track players that looked like a dynamite plunger? I remember they came in colors like red and blue. I never got one, but I sure wanted one.
I have an old rotary phone somewhere. It still works.
Your post took me back to a warm place and time of my life. I fondly remember getting a Walkman in he sixth grade and being able to listen to my own tapes in the car on those painful 55 MPH road trips.
How far our country has come. . . and sadly GONE since those days.
I would trade all of the technology if it would reverse the police state that has come of it.
The real scary thin is thinking about the exponential nature of technology, and where we might be 5 or ten years from now.
This is not hilarious. Rather, this is sad.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.