MovieChat Forums > Steve Jobs (2015) Discussion > Lisa with her Sony Walkman, really?

Lisa with her Sony Walkman, really?

posted 8 years ago by nkingman
10 replies | jump to latest

The portable CD player was released in the mid '80s and by the end of that decade most people have moved away from the cassette tape and were using CDs. So I'm not sure why she was still listening to tape in 1998.

[–] CincyDude 8 years ago

1) Perhaps it was an expression of her version of the "1984" Apple ad-- a rebellion against big, monopolistic, dominating thought and business. Although Apple wasn't the behemoth then that it is now, she (or the film makers) were being prescient.

2) Perhaps to show her disdain against tech fetishness that those weirdos in the auditorium, clapping and screaming like they were meeting Jesus, and the Apple cult they represent.

3) Retro is "cool".

[–] MargiePax 8 years ago

Were there ever portable CD players that you could sling over your shoulder or around your waist that didn't skip? Walking around campus, running, rollerblading, getting around on public transportation, etc.

Plus - the mix tape. A term that still is in use today.

[–] Walter_Matthaus_Ghost 8 years ago

Mixtapes...

[–] transmentalist 8 years ago

Mixtapes...

To think this notion means NOTHING to most people today.

They might have a vague notion of it, as some kind of non-editable playlist, but cannot possibly have any appreciation for the often obsessive effort that some folks (mea culpa) put into assembling them

[–] brian-boos 8 years ago

I drove a pickup with a tape deck in 1998... still made mix tapes and listened to cassettes in the late 90s. Wasn't trying to be cool, or retro... just life.

[–] LoBo_77018 8 years ago

Portable CD players sucked - when walking they'd constantly pause or skip. I went back to my tape player pretty quick.

[–] insomniacmovie 8 years ago

Portable CD players sucked - when walking they'd constantly pause or skip. I went back to my tape player pretty quick.

This. I went through a few different models by Sony and Kenwood, and they were all supposed to have anti-skip technology that was utterly worthless. They worked slightly better in the car if you had a shock mount, but there was really nowhere to go but up.

Sometimes I miss tapes. I have a 6 disc changer in the car, that can play MP3 tracks. It's pretty cool being able to put 200 tracks on a disc, but what I've discovered is that I never know what I'm in the mood for. I love Pink Floyd, but if I decide I want to listen to something else on my morning commute, I have to skip through about a half dozen albums to get to something else.

[–] pastorjwallen 8 years ago

Yeah, I'm going to add my voice to the others here. I had a CD player in 1998, and it was awful. Take a few steps, the CD would skip. Electronic anti-skip existed then, but they could only buffer a few seconds, and, unless you had a pile of money, you dealt with the lower end CD players anyway, and they would skip at the drop of a hat. From across the room. Stuffed with marshmallows.

The point is, portable CD players sucked. I just gave up and had a cassette deck until 2003. lol

------------------------------

-= J =-

[–] krispykremekiller 8 years ago

As others have said, until around 1992, they simply didn't work unless they stood still. You couldn't walk or exercise with them.

[–] rabbitmoon 8 years ago

That's simply not true. I bought a Panasonic walkman in 1999 for $60. I had plenty of cassettes, retail, copies, mixes, and had no need to get a skippy, bigger CD player.