I love electronics from the 70s and 80s. Those were the years when I was a kid. It was when I got my first Walkman (my first cassette tape was Back in Black by AC/DC, which was my favorite band at the time). My Walkman had a strap that allowed you to wear it on your shoulder. Our family had a Commodore 64 and I loved how the software would load from big floppy disks and chunky cartridges, and how I could play games called Radar Rat Race and Lazarian. It was all the best. I also used to love my clunky old cassette recorder. I used to put my radio next to it to try to record my favorite songs from Casey Kasem’s weekly American Top 40 (early mixtapes!). I’d get so annoyed when Casey would talk over the beginnings of the songs I was trying to capture. I’d also use my tape recorder to make funny tapes of me and my sister. Our typical scenario was that I was a newscaster, and I was trying to report the news. But my daughter -- played by my sister -- was sick and was at work with me instead of at school. She would repeatedly interrupt my broadcasts about important news to ask for snacks and tissues, and I would respond with exasperation as my national audience shook its head at the lack of professionalism.
So, yeah, 70s and 80s electronics. I still have a lot of it, and some of it is in my office here at the Library.
One thing that made me a little sad was that the battery cover from my Walkman was missing. The cool thing that happened was that it became a 3D printing project for Shapiro Design Lab intern Gloria Chun. Here’s how it turned out!
It was a great experience to work with the Design Lab folks on this, and I was extra happy that it was an opportunity for an intern to gain some experience with important pieces of design software and hardware. Thanks to all involved! And if you ever want to play my Mattel football game, come on by my office. It’s actually really fun!