Holy Crap I Feel Old

On 'Boing Boing' they posted a story about a 13 year old kid that was given a Sony Walkman in place of his MP3 player for a week and then got his impression of the device. Just goes to show how quickly technology leaves people behind if you don't keep up. I admit I don't own an MP3 player but do have a CD player in my car. I am fairly computer literate but don't know a whole heck of alot about cell phones because for some reason I have a deadly fear of the brain tumors they will give me. The same technology was used in police speed scanners for years and now the cops who rest them in their laps between clocking the effect of my lead foot (bastards!)have gotten testicular cancer. The head is just as vulnerable as the scrotum. Of course I am also totally denying the truth that I don't have a cell phone because I have no one to call. I understand, however, the frustration that older people have with their lack of tech knowledge. My own mother has trouble with the remote control on the satellite. She only this year mastered an answering machine and to her its the greatest thing ever. Now if only I could get her to make the connection between the cursor and how you move the mouse. It will be a moment akin to the transformation from oil lamps to electric lightbulbs.

"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. Another notable feature that the iPod has and the Walkman doesn't is "shuffle", where the player selects random tracks to play. Its a function that, on the face of it, the Walkman lacks. But I managed to create an impromptu shuffle feature simply by holding down "rewind" and releasing it randomly - effective, if a little laboured. I told my dad about my clever idea. His words of warning brought home the difference between the portable music players of today, which don't have moving parts, and the mechanical playback of old. In his words, "Walkmans eat tapes". So my clumsy clicking could have ended up ruining my favourite tape, leaving me music-less for the rest of the day"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8117619.stm