Throwback Technology Thursdays: the Walkman and Cassette Tapes

 

 

Next in our Throwback Technology series:  the Walkman and Cassette Tapes!  Same ground rules apply:  I'll share some older "technologies" that I've gathered from the library and from my personal items. I will use a broad definition of technology to include anything people invent to help them accomplish a task or purpose.  And, I invite you to share your questions and/or memories about these items.

Now, imagine if you could take music with you anywhere you go.  Well, we don't have to imagine that, because music (and lots of other audio and video content) is readily available to us on our phones, both in files we download to the device and through streaming services.  But back in the day, this was not so easy.  

In the 1970s and early 1980s, recorded music was just transitioning from the round record album (not really very portable) onto cassette tapes (like the one below - from my personal collection).  The cassette contains magnetic tape, looped around two spools, to store audio.  You would play the cassette all the way through on one side, and then reverse the cassette to play the second side.  

OK, so getting your music into a much smaller format was a great thing.  But the actual device to play them on remained fairly large through most of the 70s.  Then, in 1979, Sony developed the Walkman as a way to easily play music wherever you went.  And, since the Walkman did not have an external speaker and required a set of headphones, this became a personal experience.

Now, to be fair, there were portable radios you could use before this, but the Walkman made it possible to carry the music you wanted and not have to be dependent on getting a good radio signal, or having to be patient and wait for your desired song to come around on the station's playlist.  In the knock-off walkman pictured above (I received this in 1986 and used it though the end of high school and into my college years), you can also see that they've highlighted the option to listen to the radio (if you grew tired of listening to your single cassette).

So, personalized listening to audio content, all in an easy to carry mobile device.  You can see how this was a step on the way to the phones of today and our digital experience with audio (and video).  If you'd like to give the Lenoxx Sound walkman a try, stop by the library.