Tech Legacy - Boom Boxes (Part 10)

These days Boom Boxes are confined to nostalgic memories of the 1980's or faint memories of good times when music invited or not flooded the streets of urban areas.

Associated with hip-hop, break-dancing, and other aspects of eighties culture, they were introduced in the late 1970’s as portable, all-in-one music devices. Earlier models took huge quantities of batteries and were very heavy.

A boombox or “Jambox” is a transistorized portable music player featuring one or two cassette tape recorder/players and AM/FM radio, generally with a carrying handle. Beginning in the 1980s, a CD player was sometimes included. Sound is delivered through an amplifier and two or more integrated loudspeakers. A boombox is a device typically capable of receiving radio stations and playing recorded music (usually cassettes or CDs usually at a high volume).

Many models are also capable of recording onto cassette tapes from radio and other sources. Designed for portability, boomboxes can be powered by batteries as well as by line current. The boombox was introduced to the American market during the mid-1970s. The desire for louder and heavier bass led to bigger and heavier boxes; by the 1980s, some boomboxes had reached the size of a suitcase. Most boomboxes were battery-operated, leading to extremely heavy, bulky boxes.

This brings back good memories for me as I do remember the boombox being part of popular culture as I was growing up. I also remember all the great movies showing off this magnificent tech on basketball courts/parks and neighborhoods.

I can't put my finger on what the boombox evolved into... These days everyone has a smartphone with a similar ability to play music fairly loudly but it seems society has lost the bass! What are your thoughts on this topic?

Source:

Wikipedia