Giving up my iPod for a Walkman

When the Sony Walkman was launched, 30 years ago this week, it started a revolution in portable music. But how does it compare with its digital successors? The Magazine invited 13-year-old Scott Campbell to swap his iPod for a Walkman for a week. My dad had told me it was the iPod of its day. He had told me it was big, but I hadn't realised he meant THAT big. It was the size of a small book. When I saw it for the first time, its colour also struck me. Nowadays gadgets come in a rainbow of colours but this was only one shade - a bland grey.

LISTEN UP TEENAGERS... THE CLASSIC WALKMAN EXPLAINED
Sony Walkman
1: Clunky buttons
2: Switch to metal (that's a type of cassette, not heavy rock music)
3: Battery light - usually found flickering in its death throes
4: Double headphone jack (not to be found on an iPod)
5: Door ejects - watch out for flying tapes and eye injuries

Walkman v iPod: Scott's verdict

So it's not exactly the most aesthetically pleasing choice of music player. If I was browsing in a shop maybe I would have chosen something else. From a practical point of view, the Walkman is rather cumbersome, and it is certainly not pocket-sized, unless you have large pockets. It comes with a handy belt clip screwed on to the back, yet the weight of the unit is enough to haul down a low-slung pair of combats.

When I wore it walking down the street or going into shops, I got strange looks, a mixture of surprise and curiosity, that made me a little embarrassed. As I boarded the school bus, where I live in Aberdeenshire, I was greeted with laughter. One boy said: "No-one uses them any more." Another said: "Groovy." Yet another one quipped: "That would be hard to lose."

My friends couldn't imagine their parents using this monstrous box, but there was interest in what the thing was and how it worked. In some classes in school they let me listen to music and one teacher recognised it and got nostalgic. It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape. That was not the only naive mistake that I made; I mistook the metal/normal switch on the Walkman for a genre-specific equaliser, but later I discovered that it was in fact used to switch between two different types of cassette.

I managed to create an impromptu shuffle feature simply by holding down 'rewind' and releasing it randomly Another notable feature that the iPod has and the Walkman doesn't is "shuffle", where the player selects random tracks to play. Its a function that, on the face of it, the Walkman lacks. But I managed to create an impromptu shuffle feature simply by holding down "rewind" and releasing it randomly - effective, if a little laboured.

I told my dad about my clever idea. His words of warning brought home the difference between the portable music players of today, which don't have moving parts, and the mechanical playback of old. In his words, "Walkmans eat tapes". So my clumsy clicking could have ended up ruining my favourite tape, leaving me music-less for the rest of the day.

Digital relief

Throughout my week using the Walkman, I came to realise that I have very little knowledge of technology from the past. I made a number of naive mistakes, but I also learned a lot about the grandfather of the MP3 Player. You can almost imagine the excitement about the Walkman coming out 30 years ago, as it was the newest piece of technology at the time.

Perhaps that kind of anticipation and excitement has been somewhat lost in the flood of new products which now hit our shelves on a regular basis. Personally, I'm relieved I live in the digital age, with bigger choice, more functions and smaller devices. I'm relieved that the majority of technological advancement happened before I was born, as I can't imagine having to use such basic equipment every day.

Having said all that, portable music is better than no music. Now, for technically curious readers, I've directly compared the portable cassette player with its latter-day successor. Here are the main cons, and even a pro, I found with this piece of antique technology.

SOUND

This is the function that matters most. To make the music play, you push the large play button. It engages with a satisfying clunk, unlike the finger tip tap for the iPod. When playing, it is clearly evident that the music sounds significantly different than when played on an MP3 player, mainly because of the hissy backtrack and odd warbly noises on the Walkman. The warbling is probably because of the horrifically short battery life; it is nearly completely dead within three hours of firing it up. Not long after the music warbled into life, it abruptly ended.

CONVENIENCE

With the plethora of MP3 players available on the market nowadays, each boasting bigger and better features than its predecessor, it is hard to imagine the prospect of purchasing and using a bulky cassette player instead of a digital device. Furthermore, there were a number of buttons protruding from the top and sides of this device to provide functions such as "rewinding" and "fast-forwarding" (remember those?), which added even more bulk. As well as this, the need for changing tapes is bothersome in itself. The tapes which I had could only hold around 12 tracks each, a fraction of the capacity of the smallest iPod. Did my dad, Alan, really ever think this was a credible piece of technology? "I remembered it fondly as a way to enjoy what music I liked, where I liked," he said. "But when I see it now, I wonder how I carried it!"

WALKMAN 1, MP3 PLAYER 0

But it's not all a one-way street when you line up a Walkman against an iPod. The Walkman actually has two headphone sockets, labelled A and B, meaning the little music that I have, I can share with friends. To plug two pairs of headphones in to an iPod, you have to buy a special adapter. Another useful feature is the power socket on the side, so that you can plug the Walkman into the wall when you're not on the move. But given the dreadful battery life, I guess this was an outright necessity rather than an extra function.

Scott Campbell co-edits his own news website, Net News Daily.

SYN MEDIA LEARNING WEEK

SYN MEDIA LEARNING WEEK: Teacher Professional Development Series AUGUST 24 – 28

Presented by SYN in partnership with the State Library of Victoria.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Mark Pesce - Young People, Digital Media and Your Classroom
Mark Pesce, one of Australia’s top ICT and social networking experts will address the value of new media as a learning tool and discuss how we can continue to keep up with shifts and trends in online technologies.
Thursday 27 August: 1:30 – 2:30pm
Experimedia at State Library of Victoria: 328 Swanston St, Melb.

PANELS

Media Careers and Training Pathways: Panel Discussion
A diverse panel of media professionals and industry experts will discuss the many media pathways and opportunities available for young people. This is essential information to pass on to your students who are interested in the media and journalism, as well as related fields like the music industry, theatre, technical fields and ICT.
Monday 24 August: 1:00 - 3:00pm
Experimedia at State Library of Victoria: 328 Swanston St, Melb.

Gaming and Learning: Panel Discussion and Play
Games Industry and IT experts will help you learn and experience the educational potential of video games and gaming culture. Starting with a panel discussion on how games help students learn useful skills and ending with a chance to get your hands on some gaming consoles and play!
Friday 28 August: 1:00 – 4:00pm
Experimedia at State Library of Victoria: 328 Swanston St, Melb.

WORKSHOPS

SYN Radio Tour
Take the tour that hundreds of Victorian students take every year and learn about youth media.
This is a hands-on opportunity to learn how to make a radio program from writing to producing. All participants will be provided with a CD copy of their radio program.
Monday 24 August: 3:00 – 4:30pm
House of SYN - 16 Cardigan St, Carlton.

Videoblog Workshop
Sample a taste of SYN’s Videoblogging Workshop, regularly delivered as a one day in school workshop. Learn how students can use Videoblogging to explore and present their ideas, from curriculum-based concepts to personal passions. There will also be plenty of opportunity for hands-on experience using the digital video recording and editing software.
Tuesday 25 August: 1:00 - 3:00pm
Computer Lab at State Library of Victoria: 328 Swanston St, Melb.


WebSmarts Workshop
Looking at online safety and privacy using some of the resources developed by young people through the SYN Websmarts project. We’ll talk about issues such as social networking habits, bullying, illegal downloading and pornography and sexuality online. SYN’s Websmarts project is a multimedia project that seeks to create discussion about how young people interact with the
Internet through the mediums of radio, television and the web.
Wednesday 26 August: 1:00 - 3:00pm
Computer Lab at State Library of Victoria: 328 Swanston St, Melb.

ALL EVENTS ARE FREE / BOOKINGS ARE ESSENTIAL
to book online go to*: syn.org.au/education
e training@syn.org.au
p 03 9925 4693

Sponsored by ATOM (Australian Teachers of Media), Vic Health and IDEA (Institute for Design Entertainment and the Arts)

Access Nano

AccessNano is a unique, cutting-edge nanotechnology educational resource designed to introduce accessible and innovative science and technology into Australian secondary school classrooms. AccessNano provides teachers with 13 ready-to-use, versatile, web-based teaching modules, featuring PowerPoint presentations, experiments, activities, animations and links to interactive websites. Topics covered fit into current Australian curricula requirements, and include teaching units for Years 7-11

http://www.accessnano.org/teaching-modules

Plan to monitor all internet use

By Dominic Casciani BBC News home affairs reporter, 2009/04/27 13:50:15 GMT

Communications firms are being asked to record all internet contacts between people as part of a modernisation in UK police surveillance tactics. The home secretary scrapped plans for a database but wants details to be held and organised for security services. The new system would track all e-mails, phone calls and internet use, including visits to social network sites. The Tories said the Home Office had "buckled under Conservative pressure" in deciding against a giant database. Announcing a consultation on a new strategy for communications data and its use in law enforcement, Jacqui Smith said there would be no single government-run database. “ Communications data is an essential tool for law enforcement agencies to track murderers and paedophiles, save lives and tackle crime ” Jacqui Smith Home Secretary. But she also said that "doing nothing" in the face of a communications revolution was not an option.

The Home Office will instead ask communications companies - from internet service providers to mobile phone networks - to extend the range of information they currently hold on their subscribers and organise it so that it can be better used by the police, MI5 and other public bodies investigating crime and terrorism. Ministers say they estimate the project will cost £2bn to set up, which includes some compensation to the communications industry for the work it may be asked to do. "Communications data is an essential tool for law enforcement agencies to track murderers, paedophiles, save lives and tackle crime," Ms Smith said. "Advances in communications mean that there are ever more sophisticated ways to communicate and we need to ensure that we keep up with the technology being used by those who seek to do us harm. "It is essential that the police and other crime fighting agencies have the tools they need to do their job, However to be clear, there are absolutely no plans for a single central store."

'Contact not content'

Communication service providers (CSPs) will be asked to record internet contacts between people, but not the content, similar to the existing arrangements to log telephone contacts.

REASONS TO CHANGE WHAT CAN BE KEPT
# More communication via computers rather than phones
# Companies won't always keep all data all the time
# Anonymity online masks criminal identities
# More online services provided from abroad
# Data held in many locations and difficult to find Source: Home Office consultation

But, recognising that the internet has changed the way people talk, the CSPs will also be asked to record some third party data or information partly based overseas, such as visits to an online chatroom and social network sites like Facebook or Twitter. Security services could then seek to examine this data along with information which links it to specific devices, such as a mobile phone, home computer or other device, as part of investigations into criminal suspects. The plan expands a voluntary arrangement under which CSPs allow security services to access some data which they already hold. The security services already deploy advanced techniques to monitor telephone conversations or intercept other communications, but this is not used in criminal trials. Ms Smith said that while the new system could record a visit to a social network, it would not record personal and private information such as photos or messages posted to a page. "What we are talking about is who is at one end [of a communication] and who is at the other - and how they are communicating," she said.

Existing legal safeguards under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act would continue to apply. Requests to see the data would require top level authorisation within a public body such as a police force. The Home Office is running a separate consultation on limiting the number of public authorities that can access sensitive information or carry out covert surveillance. Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said: "I am pleased that the Government has climbed down from the Big Brother plan for a centralised database of all our emails and phone calls. "However, any legislation that requires individual communications providers to keep data on who called whom and when will need strong safeguards on access. "It is simply not that easy to separate the bare details of a call from its content. What if a leading business person is ringing Alcoholics Anonymous, or a politician's partner is arranging to hire a porn video? "There has to be a careful balance between investigative powers and the right to privacy."

Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said: "The big problem is that the government has built a culture of surveillance which goes far beyond counter terrorism and serious crime. Too many parts of Government have too many powers to snoop on innocent people and that's really got to change. "It is good that the home secretary appears to have listened to Conservative warnings about big brother databases. Now that she has finally admitted that the public don't want their details held by the State in one place, perhaps she will look at other areas in which the Government is trying to do precisely that." Guy Herbert of campaign group NO2ID said: "Just a week after the home secretary announced a public consultation on some trivial trimming of local authority surveillance, we have this: a proposal for powers more intrusive than any police state in history. "Ministers are making a distinction between content and communications data into sound-bite of the year. But it is spurious. "Officials from dozens of departments and quangos could know what you read online, and who all your friends are, who you emailed, when, and where you were when you did so - all without a warrant." The consultation runs until 20 July 2009.

Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8020039.stm

ABC Gallipolli: The First Day

http://www.abc.net.au/gallipoli

Gallipoli: The First Day is a new online 3D Flash interactive by the ABC exploring the events of the first 24 hours of the landing of the ANZACs at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915. Explore events (from both Anzac and Ottoman perspectives) via a 3D terrain of the Gallipoli peninsula. Watch the story unfold via 3D diorama animations and animations showing troop movements across the terrain. There's also archive photos, videos and diary entries, and a summary and historical analysis of the overall campaign.

You'll need the Flash 10 plugin installed on your computer to view this, and a solid broadband connection. There's also a small Google Earth component for those with slower connections - this gives an overview of the key events of the day and features a selection of media included in the Flash site, but contextualised within the Google Earth globe. You'll need Google Earth 5.0 for this.