Toons To Go

Anybody out there remember the first portable personal music players? Those were handheld transistor radios, like the one pictured below. I had one that looked a bit like this model, and it even had a single monaural earphone that allowed for private listening. Yeah, real hi-fidelity sound. But back then, when this was the best you could get, there was no complaining about it. On my little radio, I usually tuned into the local radio station, which naturally sent out the strongest signal. This must have been in the mid-70's or so, when I was tuning in the likes of KC and the Sunshine Band, Donna Summer, and Abba. I wasn't crazy about much of this stuff, but it was something to listen to while I sat in the sun in my backyard on a warm summer afternoon. 

Then the whole idea of portable music became unimportant to me when full albums, on record and tape, entered my life. It was far cooler to listen to an artist's latest LP release in its entirety, hopefully on a decent home sound system. Fast-forward to the very early 80's: my younger brother actually beat me to the purchase of a Sony Walkman (or was it a portable stereo of another brand?), the first of a wave of personal stereo cassette players to hit the market. I remember borrowing it once or twice, but I never felt a strong urge to carry music around with me while I was in high school. There was always music playing wherever I went.... friends' homes, parties, record stores, musical instrument stores, arcades, wherever. 

It wasn't until I finished high school and was in my first year of college that I picked up a more affordable brand of personal stereo. It might have been a Sanyo or something like that. That unit was actually very durable and lasted me several years. I certainly put it through its paces, too, listening to hours of music on bus trips back home and around Toronto, and even patching it into my home audio tape machine to copy borrowed tapes, adding to my collection and making the ever-popular mix tapes. 

After about fifteen or so years, that Sanyo snuffed it. And that was my cue to finally snag a Sony, a gently used and nicely-priced Sport model (pictured below, top left, bright yellow), at a consignment shop. That little baby still runs like a Swiss watch, though I never use it any more. Then a friend gave me his Panasonic portable CD player. The next generation of personal music. Now mind you, I didn't really need that player very much, and it didn't get a lot of use. 

Once I got into distance running, I found that having some music often helped get me through a long haul. I tried both the tape and CD Walkmans, but neither was very comfortable to carry nor built to handle the vibration of my activity. I bought a cheap little FM receiver (pictured, bottom left), but it only pulled in a weak signal and was more disappointing than anything else. 

Not many years ago, I received an early version of the iPod shuffle as a gift, but running with it in the rain shortened its life significantly. I got it working again, but after more problems and inconvenience with this sucky Apple product, I gave it up. What met my requirements better was an inexpensive Sansa Clip MP3 player (pictured above, bottom right). This gadget is both easy to load up and to carry while moving around - especially running. I've been through my share of personal music gadgets, and for now, and for however long the Sansa holds up, I'll stick with it. A far cry from the big clunky Walkman!