Giving up my iPod for a Walkman -- Scott Campbell

Article here.


Thirteen-year-old Scott Campbell swaps his iPod for a Walkman and discusses his experience. In addition to comparing the appearance, sound, convenience, Campbell also contemplates his limited knowledge of technology.

My initial thought was that this kid would not have the patience for the Walkman. The slow rewinding and fast forwarding, short battery life, having to flip the cassette (which he didn't realize until later). Kids (well, to be fair, mostly everyone) these days want immediate gratification -- songs when they want them, no commercials, etc. Most don't have the patience to listen to an entire song -- let alone an entire album -- before they're skipping forward. The absolute highlight for me was when Campbell discovered a "shuffle" feature by rewinding and releasing randomly. Of course!

One interesting thing that I recall about my Walkman is that most of my tapes were recordings from the radio. I didn't have a ton of cash back then, so purchasing tapes was typically out of the question. So I improvised and recorded all of my favorite songs from the radio...which had commercials. What a huge difference between my childhood and the current generation. iPods and DVR -- do they listen to ANY commercials anymore? They may have an attention span of a gnat, but perhaps "big bad advertising" isn't getting to them like they got to me and my peers.

I had to laugh when he said he was "relieved that the majority of technological advancement happened before (he) was born.” I'm sure everyone has stopped at one point and thought, "Wow, what more can be done? Teleportation and that's about it." But the window of time for research and product development is getting shorter and shorter. Gone are the days of products hitting shelves in 10-15 years from initial development. Look how far the iPod has come since its initial release in 2001. Capacity from 10GB to 160GB, black and white to color screen, three times the battery life, available in multiple colors, video camera, wi-fi, and the list goes on and on. There have been dramatic changes in just eight short years. Hold on tight, young Scott Campbell. Technology still has a long way to go.