Wind In My Head: So when was the last time you saw this?
Wind In My Head
Sunday, December 30, 2007
So when was the last time you saw this?
So, I'm on a heritage tour and I discover that these things are considered old enough to be part of any heritage collection. It sure does make me feel somewhat old to think that the things that I grew up with are collectibles and that they bring back so many memories for me.
The cassette player with the radio antennae. We didn't have one of these at home but we did have one of these in school and it was used everyday to broadcast the national anthem and the school song. I remember the crackling and the hissing it made and how a microphone had to be put in front of it so that it would amplify out into the assembly area. And that awful sound it made when there was feedback because the microphone was too near the radio. It all came rushing back, as did the regimental morning exercise we had to do every morning that the radio provided accompaniment for. All this was way before the horrendous Great Singapore Workout and because we had little sense of irony then, we just obediently did it and I think even enjoyed it too.
Then there was the typewriter before the time of computers. It was such an art form to get the margins correctly aligned and woe was he who actually made a mistake because backspace did not clear the typo and correction tape was just too messy.Now, the tape deck beside it, we had at home. I have fond memories of my father taping my conversations on it. I remember one tape where I had a very earnest conversation about jpw much I liked eating cheese, half in English, half in Teochew, the language I first spoke but not any more. And even though it can't be seen in the photograph, there's a little counter on it that was very useful when it came to finding a particular spot of the cassette tape that did not have tracks or any breaks. Ah... cassette tapes.. too bad there weren't any on display.
But I have left the best for last. The Great great great grand parent of the Macbook. The Apple Two. With its huge floppy drive, its colourful logo and its green and black screen. I spent many an hour playing Choplifter on it. That and Where in the World was Carmen Sandiego? I credit that game for much of my geographical knowledge and I think it took me the entire year-end vacation to eventually catch up and arrest Carmen Sandiego. We downloaded it a couple of years back but it just took too long to do anything. I am afterall, of the new fangled instant Internet generation with super duper graphic and sound cards that need separate devices to cool them lest they overheat everything. Although I must admit that the tin-ny music still gave me a little bit of thrill.Pity that to most of the kids that were on tour with me, they would just remain relics of a time gone in a museum rather than something that would trigger a deep buried memory that would bring nostalgia to the surface.
Technorati Tags: Singapore, old technology
Ondine tossed this thought in at 08:37
