i-pod...shmi-pod

It took me this long to figure out what the heck an i-pod really is and what the fuss is all about. For anyone around the age of 50, it is a compact, electronic, hi-fi Walkman. For us older guys, it is an amazingly compact, space-age tape recorder that can store a million songs (none of which are worth listening to...but I digress).

No, I am not down on the toy, just pointing out a generation gap and how fast it has developed. The incentive for these thoughts came about a few days ago while JB and I were enjoying a lazy morning over coffee at a place called Sven's. It is one of those coffee shops with a very nice menu, relaxed atmosphere, computers to use and good coffee. There is art on the walls, and one room that has comfy leather chairs and a leather sofa (which JB and I managed to claim...but I digress, again). There is, among other things, another item of note in that room, and it is pictured above. Recognize it?

Well, children, that is a 1940's i-pod, except they were called Victrolas back then. They played something called records which, back then, were heavy, brittle disks the size (relatively) of a flying saucer. They came in cardboard sleeves and had one song jammed onto each side. The table turned the disk at exactly (more or less) 78 rpm, after you wound up the spring. You then moved the end of the arm, which contained a needle, onto the disk and it would track along the grooves reproducing the recording on a speaker the size of Nevada with the fidelity of a man playing wax paper on a comb. No, it wasn't portable, but then there was no where to go back then. It did, on the other hand, bring families together since everyone had to put their ears within a few feet of the thing if they wanted a shot at hearing the words and music playing. Estimated weight...about 4.5 tons.

Young people, they don't know what they're missing.

Paddle safe...

DS