Engineering Lifestyle
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John_Galt
The best present I have ever received was a Caravelle AM radio transmitter ...
jackOfManyTrades
The Sony Walkman was, of course, why the inventor of pencils (showing incredible ...
The Sony Walkman, the best present I ever got
Sylvie Barak
12/14/2012 9:30 AM EST
I was five when I received the best present ever. Even though I was Jewish, Santa Claus himself handed it to me, on a P&O channel crossing from Calais to London, after the mandatory awkward knee sitting business as my parents looked on.
Thinking back on it now, I know that they gave the gifts to the boat’s so-called “Santa” but, back then, I was naively oblivious. I thanked him profusely and walked away with a reassuringly chunky box, covered in shiny red paper, tied with a gold ribbon. I shook it a little to figure out what it was before ripping the paper off.
In those days, though, I didn’t just like ripping the paper off my own presents, I ripped the paper off everyone elses presents too, and it’s more than likely that I attacked my sister’s package before I even got round to opening my own.
No matter, because both boxes contained the same, jaw dropping, magical gift.
A Sony Walkman.
It was red. And back then I think it probably measured the length of my elbow to my wrist. It had four buttons. Stop. Play. Rewind. Fast Forward. When you slid the catch on the side, the tape deck popped open just wide enough to slide in a cassette. And somehow, though I couldn’t figure out how, it could decode the cryptic code I imagined invisibly emblazoned on the brown tape reeling round and round. I remember thinking there could not possibly be a more wondrous present in the whole wide world.
The ear muff-like, ill-fitting earphones that came with it slotted neatly into the audio jack, the four large AA batteries sat snugly in their little pouch on the walkman’s underbelly. It was a feat of engineering beauty, and I spent many an hour poking my finger round inside it to try and figure it all out.
I can’t remember what the first tape I played in it was. Back then I was obsessed with “Storyteller” audio books, so it’s highly probable it was one of those, though I later graduated to an eclectic selection of home recorded ABBA/Jason Donovan/Grease mix tapes, Enid Blyton’s Famous Five and every James Bond book ever set to audio.
Sometimes if I fast forwarded too impatiently, or rewound with too much vigor, the tape inside the cassette would get tangled and I’d have to pop the machine open, grab a pencil and –slowly, carefully—unravel. In extreme cases, there was nothing to be done and I’d have to snip the tape, salvage what I could, and cellotape it neatly back together before feeding it back into the mouth of my shiny red pet.
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Thinking back on it now, I know that they gave the gifts to the boat’s so-called “Santa” but, back then, I was naively oblivious. I thanked him profusely and walked away with a reassuringly chunky box, covered in shiny red paper, tied with a gold ribbon. I shook it a little to figure out what it was before ripping the paper off.
In those days, though, I didn’t just like ripping the paper off my own presents, I ripped the paper off everyone elses presents too, and it’s more than likely that I attacked my sister’s package before I even got round to opening my own.
No matter, because both boxes contained the same, jaw dropping, magical gift.
A Sony Walkman.
It was red. And back then I think it probably measured the length of my elbow to my wrist. It had four buttons. Stop. Play. Rewind. Fast Forward. When you slid the catch on the side, the tape deck popped open just wide enough to slide in a cassette. And somehow, though I couldn’t figure out how, it could decode the cryptic code I imagined invisibly emblazoned on the brown tape reeling round and round. I remember thinking there could not possibly be a more wondrous present in the whole wide world.The ear muff-like, ill-fitting earphones that came with it slotted neatly into the audio jack, the four large AA batteries sat snugly in their little pouch on the walkman’s underbelly. It was a feat of engineering beauty, and I spent many an hour poking my finger round inside it to try and figure it all out.
I can’t remember what the first tape I played in it was. Back then I was obsessed with “Storyteller” audio books, so it’s highly probable it was one of those, though I later graduated to an eclectic selection of home recorded ABBA/Jason Donovan/Grease mix tapes, Enid Blyton’s Famous Five and every James Bond book ever set to audio.
Sometimes if I fast forwarded too impatiently, or rewound with too much vigor, the tape inside the cassette would get tangled and I’d have to pop the machine open, grab a pencil and –slowly, carefully—unravel. In extreme cases, there was nothing to be done and I’d have to snip the tape, salvage what I could, and cellotape it neatly back together before feeding it back into the mouth of my shiny red pet.
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Bert22306
12/14/2012 4:27 PM EST
Cute story, Sylvie! But I have to break this to you: it wasn't the present that was magical, as much as it was your age.
This time of year, I also remember the "best ever" Christmas I had. It was when I was in 3rd Grade, so that's 8 years old. All manner of magical presents:
1. A real record player that worked.
2. A real watch, man size.
3. A large toy version of one of those gray Citroen delivery vans that you see all over Paris, with headlights that really worked. And wind-up motor.
There's a certain optimal age when Christmas was truly magical. I guess for me it was 8 and for you it was 5. I must be slow.
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SylvieBarak
12/14/2012 8:40 PM EST
Sigh, I wish I was still 5. Or even 8 for that matter. Some days I still feel like it... so that's something I guess!
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MarvA
12/17/2012 8:48 PM EST
Bert, I was 8 or 9 when I got a chemistry set for Christmas. My family still talks about the outcome. It was only minutes before there was a brown spot on the ceiling and a lot of smoke. I vaguely remember a test tube, heat, tannic acid, and some other stuff. It probably sounded innocent enough but I certainly made a mess.
I think that it impressed me that something had gone wrong and I knew that I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I learned a lesson and became a lot more conservative in my experiments and spent at least a little time reading the directions (not to say that everything I did was safe, or even smart). I at least started thinking a bit more. Who knows? Maybe that experience led me towards my eventual MSEE.
Oh, the close calls we engineers can tell stories about ! ! !
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sbisabirye
12/14/2012 5:16 PM EST
Speaking of Enid Blyton' Five tapes, I am glad to inform you that I have written and published a book on Enid Blyton, titled, The Famous Five: A Personal Anecdotage (www.thefamousfiveapersonalanecdotage.blogspot.com). Stephen Isabirye
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David Ashton
12/14/2012 8:59 PM EST
I had a walkman too, they were great things for their time. I also had a similar but bigger thing of dubious Japanese parentage, that had an AM/FM radio in it AND it could record.
I was on a trip to France once and had it with me...I kept hearing a great song on the radio but could't pick up what it was. So I recorded it and went to the nearest record shop (this was in the vinyl days) and said "Je voudrais acheter ce chanson" and they produced and sold me the record. (It was (Sauver L'amour" by Daniel Balavoine who later died in a helicopter crash during a Paris-Dakar Rally). Being able to record was really handy. These days, of course, it's all electronic and no moving parts...but "Walkpersons" (cynical quasi-PC name we gave them) were good things.
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Bert22306
12/14/2012 9:12 PM EST
Hey David, have fun reminiscing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J4vWuglK18
(Not to be obnoxious, well, maybe a little, "chanson" is feminine. "Cette chanson.")
Nice song, btw. I'm listening as I type.
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David Ashton
12/16/2012 10:07 PM EST
Thanks Bert, I replied yesterday but for some reason it didn't get on.
Merci de m'avoir corrigé - no offense taken at all. My French is now a bit rusty and I should check before I write...No one speaks French in Aussie....
And glad you liked the song.
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seaEE
12/14/2012 10:59 PM EST
Good story. Last week I was cleaning out a drawer and in it was one sony tape, still in its store-bought packaging. Along with it was my Philips "Walkman equivalent" which I decided to donate to St. Vincent DePaul.
I also have a small collection of music cassettes but haven't listened to them for some time.
Sony's Walkman success was huge, and it is interesting that they sold tapes as well. It might be said that they owned the technology at the time.
Of course the wonderful sound of ABBA is media independent!
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jackOfManyTrades
12/19/2012 3:01 AM EST
The Sony Walkman was, of course, why the inventor of pencils (showing incredible forsight) gave them a hexagonal cross section.
I suspect your cross-channel ferry stopped at Dover or Folkstone, not London!
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John_Galt
12/20/2012 12:16 PM EST
The best present I have ever received was a Caravelle AM radio transmitter waaaay back in 1961. About 5 years ago I bought a Caravelle on eBay and proudly display it in my office. I was 10 years old but was already bitten by the electronics bug. My dad had helped me build a crystal set and a code practice oscillator but hearing my own voice come out of a radio speaker really sealed the deal! I soon started studying for my ham radio license (I'm still licensed as WB9DYI) and was fortunate enough to attend a high school that had a fine four year electronics program. Even in this day of error-corrected digital communications I still get great satisfaction from digging a weak signal out of back ground noise! In a way I feel sorry for the bright young people of today. I'd scavenge parts from a discarded TV and have a month's worth of projects - there's no real parallel to that experience today.
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