Post AlVJmhZsFrYudMsvke by growlph@greywolf.social
(DIR) More posts by growlph@greywolf.social
(DIR) Post #AlUjCi1ZWI9RFENWWu by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T13:59:16Z
1 likes, 1 repeats
There has been a minor resurgence in "personal cassette tape players" (known more widely by Sony brand name 'walkmen') The most disturbing thing is how bare-bones these new products are... falling *far* short of the walkmen of yore.This one is $80, it has a USB-C rechargeable battery, but no song skipping fast forward, no bluetooth, auto-reverse... frankly it's exceptional for having both rewind AND fast forward.I feel like a barbarian looking at the achievements of the ancients.
(DIR) Post #AlUjLCEX5T3hFkUIl6 by adriano@lile.cl
2024-08-30T14:00:46Z
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@futurebird At some point, humanity will not have any more things that cater to western white people from the eighties anymore, I wonder what will happen then.
(DIR) Post #AlUjQ2Evfdd9hqyr1k by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T14:01:43Z
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I want a walkman that has *all* of the best old features AND a modern rechargeable battery, Bluetooth for my earbuds... and give me a little VFD display ...But especially auto-reverse... that was the most magical aspect of tape players. And I have all these tapes that were designed so you could "flip" them at certain points so the songs lined up in fun ways... Let me recapture the magic...
(DIR) Post #AlUjbv6a1Trf3Nk5po by danluvsbeer@thepit.social
2024-08-30T14:03:49Z
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@futurebird This whole resurgence of the cassette thing is a head-scratcher anyway. Like I get it with vinyl; records are pretty and sound good if you know what you're doing. But cassettes were always an inferior format, which is why they died out as quickly as they did. The medium is easily damaged, the sound is inferior. It's just weird.
(DIR) Post #AlUjkSskKDiQ7xLWr2 by danblondell@masto.nyc
2024-08-30T14:05:17Z
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@futurebird Sony makes a very handsome and equally expensive MP3 player that gets about half way there.
(DIR) Post #AlUjmTeYQfdV68fSaW by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T14:05:26Z
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@danluvsbeer People want to play their old mix tapes. I don't think it's that odd.But it's not about "audiophile" sound so it's odd that they are trying to put it into that mold. Walkmen are about features and gadgets.
(DIR) Post #AlUjvUQMvnRA61KWaO by vruz@mstdn.social
2024-08-30T14:06:34Z
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@futurebird Don't even think about recording!
(DIR) Post #AlUjytSoI9lKch5xBY by danblondell@masto.nyc
2024-08-30T14:05:40Z
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@futurebird Gen Z just has to get into tapes and we’ll be all set.
(DIR) Post #AlUjyuGRJdSf6cJaXg by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T14:07:37Z
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@danblondell IDK. I guess I can understand now why my dad hated that I was fascinated with 8-track tapes for a bit as a teen. He kept asking WHY... and that's how I feel now when I see anyone under 40 with a tape player.
(DIR) Post #AlUk6BHQRvE5uHFFC4 by mcc@mastodon.social
2024-08-30T14:08:55Z
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@futurebird What if we saw the vast and trunkless legs of stone of the statue of Ozymandias and our only response was "damn, that's really good, I wish I could build a statue that big"
(DIR) Post #AlUkAoxAt29U6rz8c4 by ersatzmaus@mastodon.social
2024-08-30T14:09:12Z
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@futurebird You wouldn't even need most of the mechanical complexity - you could rapid-scan the contents of the tape into non-volatile memory and play back from there (but stil emulate the tape being there by allowing "auto-reverse/flip at this point"). Save wear and tear on the tape.
(DIR) Post #AlUkEonVPNm6mhMuyO by fifilamoura@eldritch.cafe
2024-08-30T14:09:11Z
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@futurebird We all just want the sports Walkman again, don't we? Or is that just me. Glad I at least kept my iPod classic functional!https://walkmancentral.com/products/wm-f5
(DIR) Post #AlUkGhk0cBUtTjdHGa by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T14:09:39Z
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@ersatzmaus NO.
(DIR) Post #AlUkNyFRdm1chXnjk0 by ersatzmaus@mastodon.social
2024-08-30T14:12:30Z
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@futurebird Heh. Not enough nostalgia?
(DIR) Post #AlUkRxkrPsuyKVOoV6 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T14:13:14Z
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@ersatzmaus I like to see the wheels turning.
(DIR) Post #AlUkUNXaW3QcsmLKdc by mhoye@mastodon.social
2024-08-30T14:13:18Z
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@futurebird The WM-101 was barely larger than the plastic cases that tapes came in. It felt like a message from the future.
(DIR) Post #AlUkqEjTwf3lw3KSnY by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T14:17:36Z
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@mhoye Some of the apex tape decks were things of beauty that may never be matched. So small, so many features, the mastery of *mechanical* playback wedded with early microprocessors. I'm swooning.
(DIR) Post #AlUkuAs6F4vx7REn6e by alexanderhay@mastodon.social
2024-08-30T14:17:50Z
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@futurebird As the Techmoan YouTube channel pointed out, a lot of the skills and engineering behind the best Walkmen (and their rivals) has been lost.
(DIR) Post #AlUky2DINItjQNzapE by Krazov@mstdn.social
2024-08-30T14:18:23Z
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@futurebird @mcc, I wonder how song skipping could be achieved on a tape. Could be interesting. I never got into cassette tapes because I didn't like the silence at the end of the side, so something skipping to the end of the tape and switching to side B could spark my interest. There are some Bandcamp artists that have only digital or cassette.
(DIR) Post #AlUl0N8LZ660t1nBk8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T14:19:27Z
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@stripey For the time being refurbished vintage players are affordable. (though the high end Sony players have been getting more and more expensive and rare) But I predict they will price spike soon. Then in 20 years they will only matter for museums.
(DIR) Post #AlUl26kJSt2idlNWHA by danblondell@masto.nyc
2024-08-30T14:18:54Z
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@futurebird My toddler has a thing called a Tonie box that plays digital music but it’s “stored” (actually just downloaded) on little figurines. It is cool to switch out the media for different music. I agree analogue tapes are, apart from nostalgia, worse than almost any alternative. But some kind of swappable artifact that plays digital music would be cool. Do kids do mixtapes?? A Spotify playlist is so paltry.
(DIR) Post #AlUl4YZEzqVBVRMp7Y by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T14:20:14Z
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@danblondell They make playlists for each other and I think that's very cute and romantic.
(DIR) Post #AlUlBRJ2OOFz0q4PeC by peter@area51.social
2024-08-30T14:20:54Z
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@stripey @futurebird from what I've heard/seen on several YouTube channels there is indeed just a single cassette mechanism still under manufacture & it's not just pretty basic but also only mono, no stereo heads in it
(DIR) Post #AlUlBS5xSVO9SYxTto by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T14:21:16Z
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@peter @stripey Kill me now.
(DIR) Post #AlUlDZ4kTbG7gkOrhY by danluvsbeer@thepit.social
2024-08-30T14:21:29Z
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@futurebird Yeah I get the old mix tape part. I guess I was thinking more about the young people getting into cassettes and newer indie bands that are releasing on the format.
(DIR) Post #AlUlJQ5KoePrXgSxVo by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T14:22:54Z
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@danluvsbeer I think releasing on the format is just a way to create a neat collectable. And consider having a cassette tape of ...say the soundtrack to Howell's Moving castle and listening to it on a long train ride. Cozy stuff IMO
(DIR) Post #AlUlOeSwm9opak0OIa by danluvsbeer@thepit.social
2024-08-30T14:23:49Z
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@futurebird I love that image.
(DIR) Post #AlUlRUWEDP1HbstUqe by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T14:24:22Z
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@goaty They are neat little artifacts. Not as precious and pretentious as an LP, and small enough that you don't feel like you need to organize a whole section of your apartment to make room for them.
(DIR) Post #AlUlT8OzPpptayI9j6 by darkling@mstdn.social
2024-08-30T14:24:23Z
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@futurebird I'm also wondering about anti-roll. If I remember aright, motion (particularly rolling in the plane of the tape, if worn at the hip while walking) could produce highly audible pitch variations. Sony spent quite a lot of effort on fixing that, and if these are made of low-quality mechanisms and heads, then what's the audio quality like when in motion?
(DIR) Post #AlUlVz72PVe9eYFooq by peter@area51.social
2024-08-30T14:25:10Z
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@futurebird @stripey I still use cassettes for retro computing but that doesn't need stereo but it's not good we are in this situation for new kit
(DIR) Post #AlUld14HXQVPkGJm3U by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T14:26:27Z
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I think I could modify an old Sony Sports Walkman to have a rechargeable battery... but I don't know if I could make it look good. I even think I could add the bluetooth... but it would end up being one of my gadget projects that always gets me flagged when I go through airport security and my husband said I need to stop doing that.
(DIR) Post #AlUlhbJKjLIFJBXnwe by antiaall3s@chaos.social
2024-08-30T14:27:06Z
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@futurebird I think "we are rewind" is similar in some ways, i guess, but it does have bluetooth at least.https://www.wearerewind.com/
(DIR) Post #AlUlkjNzAEHnDnDG88 by danblondell@masto.nyc
2024-08-30T14:27:16Z
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@futurebird As long as they love it and it feels resonant and *substantial* to them, I love it.
(DIR) Post #AlUlvUJRXvyLerDY9Y by david42@mastodon.online
2024-08-30T14:29:46Z
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@futurebird you only need to stop taking them through airports
(DIR) Post #AlUlz1HZQDbGmT1e8e by ersatzmaus@mastodon.social
2024-08-30T14:30:22Z
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@futurebird Semi related: a transparent Curta would be amazing.
(DIR) Post #AlUm18vpx6eD5Hs9aa by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T14:30:27Z
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@david42 But my whole goal is to use them while traveling to feel less anxious.
(DIR) Post #AlUm3Qej1fKkdKxUdE by mhoye@mastodon.social
2024-08-30T14:30:54Z
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@futurebird Seriously. Forget the brass and steam fetishism and give me a retropunk for _this_.
(DIR) Post #AlUmQrSZXFxYQPRnuq by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T14:35:25Z
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@giltay I have one of those for my data cassettes used with my TRS 80.
(DIR) Post #AlUmTvAOD6JGn2OxxA by david42@mastodon.online
2024-08-30T14:36:00Z
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@futurebird @mhoye wouldn't the simplest option be to simulate a tape deck? Start with an MP3 player, add some metadata for the tape layout, and, when playing a "tape", add a button for reverse? Heck, you can start this from a desktop FOSS player and get the interactions and tape data format right before moving to a mobile device.
(DIR) Post #AlUmVoeZOgyFAWQDjs by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T14:36:22Z
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@david42 @mhoye NO.
(DIR) Post #AlUmYGDBuHNzDcmVAO by Zamfr@mstdn.social
2024-08-30T14:36:46Z
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@futurebird @ersatzmaus Put an LCD screen behind a little window with a movie of spinning wheels, plus a little speaker making whirr noises. And a camera with OCR that reads the name of your tape and downloads mp3s of the songs on that tape. There is a Fisher price LP record player. In the old days, each record had bumps that worked on a spring driven music box. In the modern version, the player recognizes the record, then plays the associated song from internal memory.
(DIR) Post #AlUmlbycIRi8UCKYPA by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T14:39:11Z
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@Zamfr @ersatzmaus IDK... I feel like if it comes to this? I'd rather just move on. Let the dead tape stay dead and unplayed as their magnetic tape evaporates and fragments and becomes forgotten. Let the bits be reclaimed by the magnetic fields of space... let the plastic turn to dust in the sun...
(DIR) Post #AlUmqlgFe59u1uCPCq by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T14:39:43Z
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@Zamfr @ersatzmaus Are ya'll just trying to torture a poor elderly lady?
(DIR) Post #AlUmuL8aH28Wrm9eYC by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T14:40:46Z
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@stripey I mean if we are being honest the real "experience" is taking the thing apart and messing with it.
(DIR) Post #AlUnBkwXa8DhpApHii by krnlg@mastodon.social
2024-08-30T14:43:54Z
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@futurebird @Zamfr @ersatzmaus There is an alternative - trying to make our own tapes and mechanisms! @nina_kali_nina has been trying to make tape. A mech probably isn't *that* hard for someone who knows what they're doing 😛
(DIR) Post #AlUnIVsRzkuX7p8R16 by JessTheUnstill@infosec.exchange
2024-08-30T14:45:07Z
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@futurebirdSimilarly, I miss the old hard drives that you could hear grinding and clicking when they were working hard. It was satisfying to have an auditory response when my computer was having to work hard. Though these days, it'd probably just randomly start clicking all the time when some background process decided to churn without me asking it to.@ersatzmaus
(DIR) Post #AlUnaoDaXhcdDlkKP2 by Zamfr@mstdn.social
2024-08-30T14:48:28Z
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@futurebird @ersatzmaus Nowadays torture chambers just play screaming sounds over a speaker, then ask chatgpt to predict what the torturee would have confessed eventually. This is much faster and cheaper than real torture.
(DIR) Post #AlUnokSLKInXbjIJM0 by masklayer@slime.global
2024-08-30T14:50:55Z
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@futurebird if it takes AAs (and just in general I guess) I wonder if Gameboy mod parts would work... I used (a version of) this in my DMG https://retrosix.co.uk/CleanJuice-USB-C-Battery-Pack-Game-Boy-Advance-p195931214
(DIR) Post #AlUo2mumyuUVHtIJTk by ids1024@fosstodon.org
2024-08-30T14:53:30Z
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@futurebird USB-C charging sounds nice, but I think I might prefer using replaceable rechargeable AA batteries in my old Sony Walkman.I'm sure the Fiio one is built well, but yeah, not particularly impressive in features.
(DIR) Post #AlUoYrzVdz60IVnfTk by JoshuaACNewman@xeno.glyphpress.com
2024-08-30T14:59:19Z
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@futurebird I’ve been getting questions about all the wires and devices taped to the outside of my laptop. That is covered with pro-choice, Antifascist, and just-weird stickers.But it’s just a usb hub and ssd.
(DIR) Post #AlUpFhEtUjxNP4PwZ6 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T15:07:01Z
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@misterdave "I'm not going to use the soldering iron *on* the plane! but what will I do in the lounge between flights???!"... made me put it in the checked baggage. I just kept thinking about how sorry they would all be when we crashed on a desert island and the radio was broken... fools....😩🥺😠
(DIR) Post #AlUpNA4cghqarIAmKu by sloot@tiny.tilde.website
2024-08-30T15:04:18Z
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@stripey @futurebird What a weird and surprising monoculture
(DIR) Post #AlUpOsw9N9eCI021U8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T15:07:48Z
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@sloot @stripey more like just a surprising (disparaging) culture of mono.
(DIR) Post #AlUpSg6Z1WbteLi9qK by adriano@lile.cl
2024-08-30T15:08:29Z
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@futurebird @misterdave Surely you can fashion a soldering iron out of... ¿coconuts?
(DIR) Post #AlUpccFkCRyCbCkBfs by ve3qbz@mastodon.radio
2024-08-30T15:11:02Z
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@futurebird I also want it to come in yellow, emblazonned with the word "SPORT" and have some kind of rubber seal. That was such a cool design language in my opinion.
(DIR) Post #AlUpfdIilASmiaZhmC by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T15:11:41Z
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@ve3qbz CAUTION!Music Device.Gotta love it.
(DIR) Post #AlUphdHbnVFhF30ZG4 by ochaos@techhub.social
2024-08-30T15:12:07Z
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@futurebird I would want the missing features you mentioned plus an HD-Radio tuner. I remember my old "walkman" (it probably wasn't a sony as they were expensive and I was lucky to get a knock-off) had an AM/FM tuner with crap reception so this would be a natural evolution.
(DIR) Post #AlUprMuRWrblM6ob0S by anthropy@mastodon.derg.nz
2024-08-30T15:13:49Z
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@futurebird stop doing which, the flying or the gadgets? less flying is better for the planet and so is recycling gadgets! :P
(DIR) Post #AlUpy1FyQpdMEC3blY by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T15:15:00Z
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@anthropy I haven't flown for years. LOL.
(DIR) Post #AlUq8SOWO9uJI424Po by anthropy@mastodon.derg.nz
2024-08-30T15:16:51Z
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@futurebird sounds like you can totally load up with gadgets that would make airport security nervous then :dragonbros_nod1:
(DIR) Post #AlUqE7h6GUKIpKQMbY by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T15:17:56Z
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@medley56 @misterdave In the elaborate fantasy that half of the plane was on the other side of the island. "We should have listened to her and let her keep her soldering iron!" They would all say with despair as the rescue plane flew over us unable to hear the radio...😠😢
(DIR) Post #AlUqZqo5jRHap53T0q by WAHa_06x36@mastodon.social
2024-08-30T15:21:50Z
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@futurebird I dunno, seems like a pretty accurate recreation of the experience at the time? I never had or saw a player with any of those features, that sounds like luxury stuff!
(DIR) Post #AlUrL1QU4FNnMtVPo8 by kaelef@beige.party
2024-08-30T15:30:19Z
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@futurebird All the devices that are out these days use the same, cheap internal mechanism. No one is spending the money required to make sophisticated mechanisms like we used to see in the 80's. The best bet would be to retrofit an old Walkman with a rechargeable battery and a Bluetooth module.
(DIR) Post #AlUrvjwm19ZRs87L7o by mcc@mastodon.social
2024-08-30T14:19:48Z
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@Krazov @futurebird I believe they just zoom forward until they notice a pause of like a second then stop. If tape technology had continued developing, the industry could have made this work even with gapless tracks by affixing something detectable like the end-of-tape marker to the tape.
(DIR) Post #AlUrvkYLlRd1kfhLhA by Krazov@mstdn.social
2024-08-30T15:31:26Z
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@mcc @futurebird, skipping to certain silence could cause false positives, as some songs incorporate silence as a part of composition, and there's just no way of knowing. However, I agree that they would come up with something (markers inaudible for humans?).
(DIR) Post #AlUtIA9rLVzPUOUhBQ by RealGene@hachyderm.io
2024-08-30T15:52:19Z
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@futurebird @medley56 @misterdave https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/aad22fb2-49a2-4f2a-a78a-7cd7ec09415c/
(DIR) Post #AlUtmaNYQDZXV1PGN6 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T15:57:51Z
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@RealGene @medley56 @misterdave Fair.
(DIR) Post #AlUuJcWvRdxDj9XfJQ by cshlan@dawdling.net
2024-08-30T16:01:36Z
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@futurebird Wow! You did a lot more with tapes than I did.
(DIR) Post #AlUvE4aqIGj4yqIDL6 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T16:13:59Z
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@ersatzmaus OMG the digital tape deck simulator exists!
(DIR) Post #AlUvVfihViGV39MOYa by bug@chitter.xyz
2024-08-30T16:17:09Z
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@futurebird @ersatzmaus does it simulate the vibrations of the mechanisms with haptic feedback too
(DIR) Post #AlUvjYopxtlThVqx9s by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T16:19:40Z
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@bug @ersatzmaus With the audiophile price tag they put on this thing it better... It costs like $2k!
(DIR) Post #AlUvoeXk6rquu0HlNw by Lazarou@mastodon.social
2024-08-30T16:20:26Z
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@futurebird @ersatzmaus this is a fabulous device, thank you for bringing it to my attention!
(DIR) Post #AlUvpv8dtXiOf29KjI by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T16:20:51Z
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@Lazarou @ersatzmaus When you see the price you are going to be so sad...
(DIR) Post #AlUvuuYXUH24IpdsUi by Lazarou@mastodon.social
2024-08-30T16:21:43Z
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@futurebird @ersatzmaus (sigh) I kinda felt it would be one of those....
(DIR) Post #AlUw2BwZEtEGFxLw3s by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T16:22:52Z
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@Lazarou @ersatzmaus I would consider paying a high price for something... handmade, but paying for audio woo? No thank.
(DIR) Post #AlUwD4CqLaj9Rc9S0O by llewelly@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T16:25:01Z
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@futurebird huh. I don't recall ever having seen "song-skipping" fast forward on a cassette player. But then, I was lucky if I had enough money to buy the cheapest cassette player available. Maybe I never noticed the feature because it was so far out of my price range as to be irrelevant.
(DIR) Post #AlUwh8wLJMg8oVm6iG by Lazarou@mastodon.social
2024-08-30T16:30:21Z
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@futurebird @ersatzmaus it's the perfect object for a heist movie targeted at a particular generation of people who grew up taping things off the radio. A sacred object for a hallowed quest across a post apocalyptic landscape.
(DIR) Post #AlV5Libiv3RsePzOKW by stevegis_ssg@mas.to
2024-08-30T16:37:00Z
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@Zamfr @futurebird @ersatzmaus A friend's daughter once commented at a party how cool that our stereo had a display on top that made it look like it was actually playing a vinyl record, and our friend had to explain to her that it was actually playing a vinyl record.
(DIR) Post #AlV5spldJuESPfPnIu by lydialurch@mastodon.social
2024-08-30T18:12:54Z
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@futurebird My Walkman had two headphone jacks so I could listen with a friend. I still have it.
(DIR) Post #AlV7F12QCDhRh4POYC by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T18:28:35Z
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@ronnietucker I had a double deck boombox as a teen where the tapes went in the same slot side by side like a sandwich. They both had auto reverse so you could line up over 180 min of music with no repeats. But also seeing the two tapes in the slot and the solid way it closed was so satisfying. I can't even find a photo of this model of boombox online. I think it was Casio or Sharp. (it was not Sony)
(DIR) Post #AlV7JoQoUigQ2j6ZIu by cstross@wandering.shop
2024-08-30T18:29:27Z
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@futurebird Related: a month ago I blew the dust off my old iPod 5th generation (last one with a Wolfson DAC), found a dock connector cable, charged it up, plugged in some earbuds, and it worked the way it always did. Yet the experience—which felt seamlessly streamlined when it was new—was more cumbersome than Apple Music on my current iPhone, and with fewer features.
(DIR) Post #AlV7RZvcIi7nNYDSb2 by ubersoft@mastodon.social
2024-08-30T18:30:52Z
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@futurebird did the old portable tape players have auto reverse? I remember them in boom boxes, car stereos and home stereos but I don't remember them in the portables. Maybe I always bought the cheap stuff. I would miss song skipping a lot though!
(DIR) Post #AlV7W8QBzw8rW2grPE by Vaneshi@bitbang.social
2024-08-30T18:31:41Z
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@futurebird I bet it's got the worlds worst deck in it. Partly because of cost and partly because it's the only off-the-shelf tape deck internals you can buy. I suspect you'd be better off retrofitting the USB-C power side of things to an actual WalkMan.
(DIR) Post #AlV7hWpnZU7KPu6HKq by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-30T18:33:46Z
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@ubersoft Yeah, I didn't switch to CD players for a long time and by the end it was pretty standard.
(DIR) Post #AlV7rGJPr76I4NawiW by ubersoft@mastodon.social
2024-08-30T18:35:30Z
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@futurebird then I agree, if they're going to bring the tech back, they need to bring it _all_ back!It'd be fun to see mixtapes have a revival.
(DIR) Post #AlVA7hidvPpJc1MXNA by trurl@hal9.ooo
2024-08-30T19:00:53Z
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@futurebird i once had a sony walkman with auto reverse, a remote on the headphone cord and non-mechanical buttons not much larger than a cassette itself... (after that i bought a sony md walkman from the first money i have ever earned after school. it could even record. it was a technological marvel)
(DIR) Post #AlVEN5ADRLHwU8qcsq by zagebo@mas.to
2024-08-30T19:48:31Z
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@futurebird I love my new fiio cp-13! Found out about it here on masto too
(DIR) Post #AlVFl8R11vgrXAjsFk by TheZorse@hear-me.social
2024-08-30T20:03:56Z
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@futurebird That's funny. Only about an hour ago I showed my nephew what a cassette was.
(DIR) Post #AlVGaz7gtbWriFQKzA by ClipHead@social.cologne
2024-08-30T20:13:15Z
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@futurebird I think modding an old one is THE choice. Since all the new stuff is mono, flutters, sounds bad and doesn't have noise reduction...Techmoanhttps://youtu.be/jVoSQP2yUYA?si=LexMIDk2hcHdoUMl
(DIR) Post #AlVHbVNJ5H4Vh6XXRw by hairyvisionary@fosstodon.org
2024-08-30T20:24:44Z
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@futurebird I look at this and think of later-80s "sports" tape players for runners &c: pop your tape in, set it playing, go for your run; except these won't be so vibration- or moisture-resistant, and I feel like I have arrived here from a more elegant age...What I still have from the early 90s is an Aiwa that is not much larger (maybe 2x the volume), and is a stereo recorder and AM/FM receiver, but isn't all that sporty
(DIR) Post #AlVIPwlXWHSr7mvXrE by apophis@brain.worm.pink
2024-08-30T20:31:40.852721Z
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@futurebird so much fantasy RPG stuff from the oughts was about people trying to rebuild after an old cataclysm that destroyed a brilliant ancient civilization and most of the really good tech is whatever they salvage from the ruinsnever thought we'd live to see the most boring possible implementation of that
(DIR) Post #AlVJmhZsFrYudMsvke by growlph@greywolf.social
2024-08-30T20:49:10Z
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@futurebird The demand is there, but the truth is that society has literally forgotten how to build cassette decks like we used to. Those things were marvels of miniature mechanical engineering, and re-bootstrapping the supply lines to re-manufacture old designs would be an incredible undertaking.
(DIR) Post #AlVYbjBvPgvLlXuNEG by apophis@brain.worm.pink
2024-08-30T23:22:17.134849Z
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@growlph @futurebird imagining the rats or bedbugs or whatever gains sapience after us digging up our stuff and staring in bafflement at just what happened a few decades after 9/11 like> We realised, of course, the great decadence of the Old Ones’ sculpture at the time of the tunnelling; and had indeed noticed the inferior workmanship of the arabesques in the stretches behind us. But now, in this deeper section beyond the cavern, there was a sudden difference wholly transcending explanation—a difference in basic nature as well as in mere quality, and involving so profound and calamitous a degradation of skill that nothing in the hitherto observed rate of decline could have led one to expect it.
(DIR) Post #AlVwHBBMXwO1OfNbou by lukesutton@mastodon.au
2024-08-31T04:00:27Z
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@futurebird totally agree with you. These kinda suck. I ended up buying a restored Walkman. It uses rechargeable batteries and is about as small as you can make a portable tape player. I love it. It also sounds great, because at the end of their life, Sony had the design and manufacturing down pat.
(DIR) Post #AlVwoOA9J3pzD9eDI0 by justafrog@mstdn.social
2024-08-31T04:06:27Z
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@futurebird The last few gens of super awesome tape players were marvels of technology.I definitely have zero plans to switch to tape, but I remember how small the difference with CDs was at their apex.If only they had been allowed to keep destroying the recording industry just a little bit longer.
(DIR) Post #AlWDeJDuVx7WDWBcSO by mikeday@ohai.social
2024-08-31T07:15:06Z
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@futurebird @ersatzmaus they've got the image of the cassette all wrong. It should be lit from the front with a single bulb so that the light reflects off the front of the plastic window and makes it difficult to see the tape position, and the window should be smaller so that the writing is covered up more. Also, the play position/time indicator should display a meaningless three digit number that has a non linear relation to the tape speed and is never reset.
(DIR) Post #AlWJmYKQpxBn6fYD9U by Nfoonf@chaos.social
2024-08-31T08:00:32Z
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@trurl @futurebird there is literrally no machine or engineer on this planet who can build or knows how to build something like this. when technics reissued the 1210 a few years back, they had to reverse engineer everything and retool a whole factory as they destroyed all manufacturing equipment back in the day. these are the marvels of capitalism. Fiio literally took the best available casette mechanics and even improved them. this is peak cassette player technology in 2024.
(DIR) Post #AlWKM5C6dQVtAnbAWm by mavu@mastodon.social
2024-08-31T08:30:16Z
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@futurebird do not listen to your husband!Although it might be hard to get a working Walkman, at least not without drive belt surgery.And Bluetooth is overrated anyway.Wired headphones are superior in every way.And wrapping them around the thing is much more authentic anyway :)
(DIR) Post #AlWOAM6GLz1DwmWqi8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-31T09:12:59Z
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@ronnietucker I was able to track it down! I just started looking at old sharp boomboxes and found it. It's not elegant, but I remember it being so rugged. My brother and I hung drywall in the summers and took this thing along covered in dust, dented and falling off many ladders... just kept working. But the dual tape deck meant that I could make mix-tapes, and record from the radio and I made some really neat little musical programs. SHARP WQ-T282 Stereo Twin Tape Boombox
(DIR) Post #AlWOPNQJiPFCOa4Viy by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-31T09:15:42Z
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@ronnietucker Oh and you see those red and white aux outs on the top? You could use it like an amp! Look at all the clicky switches and buttons... the little red leds... I will always have a thing for switches, slider and knobs and the big buttons that go "ca-chunk" when you press them.
(DIR) Post #AlWPTB6Ba1PDHe22nA by mina@berlin.social
2024-08-31T09:27:34Z
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@futurebirdMy ex still has her old double cassette deck (brand "Noblex", industria #argentina, late 80s). The 3.5mm audio jacks for in and output were on the top and heavily used. @ronnietucker
(DIR) Post #AlWPnCOAUeAd4mzQcC by mensrea@freeradical.zone
2024-08-31T09:31:10Z
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@futurebird i have an old walkman like device that doesn't work that i'm thinking of building a pico media player in
(DIR) Post #AlWQ4Sj50MfmfV0ElM by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-31T09:34:20Z
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@ronnietucker You could put a finger on each one and move them at once until it was perfect. Such a fun machine to interact with!
(DIR) Post #AlWjIiCKB0RTpuBqNM by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-08-31T13:09:47Z
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@ronnietucker @bangskij @mina Yes!
(DIR) Post #AlX7szzBupkSKWsncu by zenazephyr@social.vivaldi.net
2024-08-31T17:45:14Z
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@futurebird @ronnietucker I still have my boom box! They really do live forever.
(DIR) Post #AlXNch2KCT8YC0ayXo by apophis@brain.worm.pink
2024-08-31T20:21:06.551157Z
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@crowbriarhexe @oldladyplays @growlph @futurebird the way old AI stuff (deepdream, etc.) looked like shoggoths turned out to be prophetic in the worst possible way...
(DIR) Post #AlYN7zG6avACtBMKu0 by gim@lou.lt
2024-09-01T08:10:45Z
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@futurebird I happened to have other fiio device. It turned out to be an utter (and quite expensive) piece of crap that turned into brick.
(DIR) Post #AlYxtisqNQgiLtXZ6u by memory@m.blank.org
2024-09-01T15:02:42Z
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@futurebird “a more elegant weapon from a more civilized era”
(DIR) Post #AlYyzflOzR1gMpSbvE by yaldi@jorts.horse
2024-09-01T15:15:02Z
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@futurebird excited for the minidisc revival personally
(DIR) Post #AlZ4EVXxl16ynM4G6i by rootfake@mastodon.social
2024-09-01T16:13:42Z
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@futurebird if you're not doing things that the TSA doesn't understand, you're not living right.
(DIR) Post #AlZ5D1H0vYvWZIzhb6 by paspro@mastodon.social
2024-09-01T16:24:41Z
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@futurebird I much preferred and used the minidisc recordable players from Sony.
(DIR) Post #AlZ9AUov13uX9cuAs4 by floby@mastodon.social
2024-09-01T17:09:02Z
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@futurebird I've been meaning to dig up mine. I don't think it had any track awareness though 🤔