Ok, I was a little surprised that they were still selling portable cassette decks, but man oh man did these players change everything. Portable music player. For fairly cheap. Perfect for a girl whose family dragged her camping every summer. And it AUTO REVERSED so you didn't have to pop the tape out and flip it over. Brilliant, and handy when you're jammed in a minivan with your family and were covertly listening to music and not paying attention to whatever cannon monument they were talking about. (I've seen pretty much every cannon left in the United States. Thanks, Mom.)
Did they chew through batteries? Yes. Did we care? No! We were too busy making mixed tapes of music that we taped off the radio and listening to them through our own headphones. Duracells be damned!
Rest in peace, little Walkman. You were a good pal for a long time. My iPod's incredibly rad but you were there first.
[image]
