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I totally agree. I grew up firmly entrenched in the cassette world. CDs didn't come on the market until I was around 16 (as in you could actually go to record stores and find some), so all of my childhood using was totally using cassettes for music. I remember when I was around 13-14 asking for pretty much the "pinnacle" of cassette technology for Christmas. That being a walkman-style cassette player / radio, that included the apex of the technology: Auto Reverse and the auto-music-search (each brand called it something different - it would fast forward or rewind until it hit silence, which usually worked and would get you to the next song or the beginning of the one you were on).

And, wow, I just googled and found the exact cassette player I got that Christmas. I haven't laid eyes on it for a few decades: https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/...

Anyway, having said all that, there is nothing particularly good about the analog loss of quality that cassette tapes result in. I kinda, a little get it that vinyl adds a certain ambiance or whatever, however cassette just results in quality loss and extra noise in a not-good way.

Sony came to the Walkman (TPS-L2) from the BM-11. But it was not a home market product.

Japanese business used multipart memos back in the 70s for several reasons:

- Even Kanji is too difficult to write for trivial reasons.
- Japanese efficiency was offended by the concept of telling someone to write or even type for you, unless your time was incredibly valuable. Executives might have a dictating secretary, but not their subordinates, and certainly not salarymen.

But Sony did make a variety of tape recorders, and someone got the idea of leveraging their cassette product experience ( probably based on the TC-50) to a truly portable dictating machine for the world market. this was a time when there were none, and Sony's BM series changed the office dictating machine market with high-quality cassette based devices, solving a multitude of problems. Among others, they developed counter-rotating capstan flywheels, solving speed fluctuations when the device was waved around as its attorney-owner waxed philosophic. This also won them a trip on Apollo missions, but not the BM-11 style mechanism, the TC-50.

It didn't take much to adapt the BM-11 into a player-only, the TPS-L2. Original Walkman. I bet they had not predicted the success.

Now, the TPS-L2 was a terrible product. It was a little delicate, literally falling apart in the hands of skaters, runners, and athletes. I was servicing the dictating machines, and the mechanism was virtually identical - I understood it and could fix them, though it gets tiring chasing P1x1.2mm screws around the shop.

Not that the WM series Walkman models were much better, but they improved quickly, as did the dictation machines. Sony developed court reporter versions, ultimately a carousel recorder that held 30 cassettes, a loathsome device. And microcassettes, then of course solid state devices. Walkmen evolved to CD players, Minidisc, and then Netman players nobody cared about.

Sony sure could use a hit like that. But what product today do they make that could be expanded on? Smartphones? No one yet has something revolutionary in that space. TV? Nope. Robots? Yes. Asimo could become something truly useful - but let them figure that out. Hints - Alexa. Roomba. Refrigerators.

And here's a picture + description of it: http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/t...

But notice how warm and rich the 'pops' are! Can't do that with a CD, now can ya? ;)

As a kid I'd sometimes let an LP sit in the inner circle-groove and turn the amp way up, just below the point where the rumble fed back into the cartridge. The repetitive sound was as unique as a fingerprint and I'd listen to that for awhile. I'd imagine I was inside some giant machine.

The worst gash-skips I'd 'fix' with a hot needle or razor blade. This stopped the skip but left a horrible noise. Then I discovered that you could often shave gently down from the top of the gash until the part protruding into the groove came out, leaving some of the musical material intact.

I'd always check the serial number traced into the vinyl casting on the smooth surface just outside the label looking for a secret message. Sometimes there was one.

I owned one of the first SAE Impulse Noise Reduction systems made. It was even better than sliced bread.

One day I resolved that my cultural education was not complete until I actually listened to Wagner's complete Ring Cycle, which was recorded on many discs. After the first half-hour I switched over to 78rpm so I could appreciate the music and be amused by the chipmunk singing. The Ring Cycle was completed ahead of schedule.

I placed Christmas albums on the ends of the shelves so when my cat tried to climb then she wouldn't ruin the good stuff.

Used to have 40 feet of vinyl collected over a lifetime. Lost it all in the financial Self-Storage Unit Disaster of 2007. I now advise people if you fall upon hard times, gather your most prized possessions and bury them in the woods. There is a much better chance you will see them again, OR at least they will find a good home --- because unlike storage auctions where strangers acquire everything and discard what they don't want --- anyone who finds your cache will only take what they consider valuable.

I have the utmost respect for the people who are diligently placing out of print vinyl onto the Internet in high quality. But so very many of them fail to apply a light spray of isopropyl alcohol to the surface before playing. It boggles the mind.

One of my favorite riddle-stumpers used to be,
How many grooves are there on the average 12" long playing record? I'll consider any guess with the right number of digits to be a correct answer.
Answer: .edis hcae no eno ,owt ylnO

This used to be a real 'I should have known this' forehead-slapper. Now people have so little experience with LPs you just get a smile and a nod, as if I was just volunteering some useless obsolete fact. Which it is, I guess.

I'll match that and raise you a 1959 Zenith 7C06 tubetype am/fm. Just replaced the volume pot which was a pita to find. Works great. http://www.radiomuseum.org/ima...

, which was arguably the very first electronic component specifically designed for use in computers. Most of the magic was in the ultra high purity nickel used in the cathode sleeve, to prevent interface formation and "sleeping sickness", which would result from even the slightest trace of silicon impurity in the nickel.

http://www.radiomuseum.org/tubes/tube_7ak7.html

Every electronics geek needs one of these on their desk. Fortunately, there were millions made, and they come up on eBay cheap, as they have no value to the audiophools....

Because no one wants Latvian iPods

That would be the Tamco Soundwagon, also known as "Vinyl Killer":

http://www.radiomuseum.org/r/tamco_soundwagon.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEwBEcV3gWM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6de784m8hxY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-46fxdLoZM

Okay, now give me something lighter. 21.2 oz (>1.3 lbs) vs. ~ 1 lb. And cheaper. And with stereo.