The Evolution of Cool Music Gadgets

Apple most recently released the iPhone 5. Have you seen the in-ear headphones that come with it? They look like the Vodafone’s zoo-zoos. As odd as they might look, they fit dot on in the ear and thus caught our fancy and compelled a chain of thought. How were earphones 10 years ago? Pushing that train further, do you remember how music was binged on back in the 70s? We decided to do a little recap on what the cool kids’ music gizmos were back in the day and how they’ve evolved to suit the lazy needs of today’s generation.

Stereo Was The Way To Go

The size of music gadgets has had an inversely proportional relationship with time, so to speak. As time passed the devices that offered music grew smaller, but compromised on neither the quality nor the quantity of sound.  From carrying cumbersome boom boxes on shoulders in the 70s to clipping on the iPod in 2013, we’ve come a long way in experimenting with technology. And boy, has that made listening to music easy or what!

Back in the 70s, there were Stereo Systems that played only cassette tapes. By the 80s, realizing the need for more music being loaded into one item, the stereo was restructured to make it CD-friendly. What’s interesting is, these CDs only allowed a maximum of 8-10 songs. They came to be known as the Audio CDs. If you weren’t able to afford these, you always had MTV for music, post 1996.

Yearning for shrinkage, stereo systems were then reduced to the size of a circular palm-sized Discman/Walkman. Everyone gloated with so much pride if they owned one. Only to hear a CD with 8 songs! Really? Sadly, they were the only ones who had access to all new music, and the rest just had, well MTV. But these soon started falling prey to technological advancements and were phased out by the advent of a digital device known as the MP3 Player. This player was mobile, light and came with GB-worth of music storage. However, you couldn’t locate a particular song and had to let it run on random, or scroll through the entire list if you were desperate for a song.

Discman Brought in Portability

To combat this, Apple came out with the iPod in 2001 that ousted all forms of audio devices that existed before. Not only did it allow one to search for a song by the name but it also came with a humongous storage capacity and allowed video watching. But that came at a price! So as time passed, iPods transformed into a multi-purpose gadget called the iTouch, and iPods were, like everything out-dated, sold alongside momos on the streets. It is common knowledge that exaggeration is not a crime.

Music players were not the only thing that transformed. Earphones and headphones were another story altogether. It started with the round and clunky earphones that never fit into the ear and even if they did, they widened your ear hole to fit an elephant. Sure, guilty as charged for exaggeration but the discomfort was a reality. Then came a time when it moved on to soft and padded buds that fit to your ear’s perfection. It didn’t irritate and the rubber created enough friction to not fall off while taking a jog. They were perfect. But restless Apple couldn’t sit peacefully and had to develop the most recent In-Ear Headphones, whose design is a replica of the inner anatomy of an ear. It fits right in. There is no competition!

Apple’s In-Ear Headphones

Looking back, listening to music on a boom box or a Walkman seems an arduous task. But we embraced it at the time. Who knows what’s going to come next? Food for thought:  A digital laser that shoots a print on your palm that lists all the songs on the playlist? Let’s wait and watch.