The portable CD player was released in the mid '80s and by the end of that decade most people have moved away from the cassette tape and were using CDs. So I'm not sure why she was still listening to tape in 1998.
share1) Perhaps it was an expression of her version of the "1984" Apple ad-- a rebellion against big, monopolistic, dominating thought and business. Although Apple wasn't the behemoth then that it is now, she (or the film makers) were being prescient.
2) Perhaps to show her disdain against tech fetishness that those weirdos in the auditorium, clapping and screaming like they were meeting Jesus, and the Apple cult they represent.
3) Retro is "cool".
Were there ever portable CD players that you could sling over your shoulder or around your waist that didn't skip? Walking around campus, running, rollerblading, getting around on public transportation, etc.
Plus - the mix tape. A term that still is in use today.
I drove a pickup with a tape deck in 1998... still made mix tapes and listened to cassettes in the late 90s. Wasn't trying to be cool, or retro... just life.
sharePortable CD players sucked - when walking they'd constantly pause or skip. I went back to my tape player pretty quick.
sharePortable CD players sucked - when walking they'd constantly pause or skip. I went back to my tape player pretty quick.
Yeah, I'm going to add my voice to the others here. I had a CD player in 1998, and it was awful. Take a few steps, the CD would skip. Electronic anti-skip existed then, but they could only buffer a few seconds, and, unless you had a pile of money, you dealt with the lower end CD players anyway, and they would skip at the drop of a hat. From across the room. Stuffed with marshmallows.
The point is, portable CD players sucked. I just gave up and had a cassette deck until 2003. lol
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-= J =-
As others have said, until around 1992, they simply didn't work unless they stood still. You couldn't walk or exercise with them.
shareThat's simply not true. I bought a Panasonic walkman in 1999 for $60. I had plenty of cassettes, retail, copies, mixes, and had no need to get a skippy, bigger CD player.
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