WEBVTT - TechStuff's Favorite Tech Gifts 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.880 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:09.000 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technologies? With 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:17.960 tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello there, everyone, 0:00:17.960 --> 0:00:20.600 and welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Poette 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:23.080 and I'm and the tech editor here at how stuff 0:00:23.120 --> 0:00:26.560 works dot Com. A cross from me, as he often 0:00:26.600 --> 0:00:30.000 does on afternoons such as this one would be senior 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:35.480 writer Jonathan Strickland. Hey there, all right then, so time 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:37.920 to talk about you know, this time of year we 0:00:38.000 --> 0:00:40.239 kind of get to uh wanting to talk about our 0:00:40.280 --> 0:00:45.040 favorite stuff. Yeah, because turns and easy and it gives 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:49.080 hence to certain significant others and family members and friends 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:52.599 of what to get us for Christmas or any other 0:00:52.680 --> 0:00:56.440 kind of holiday. It's Christmas for me. Yeah, Well, I 0:00:56.440 --> 0:00:59.280 mean I could say Hanakah, but let's I'm not Jewish. 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:02.680 Well there you go, but it's it's you know, it's 0:01:02.720 --> 0:01:05.160 all over the world now people are you see ads 0:01:05.160 --> 0:01:08.040 everywhere about stuff? You know, we could buy this stuff 0:01:08.080 --> 0:01:12.399 and electronic gizmos and gadgets. You know, our Baileywick is 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:16.080 one of the biggest segments of the uh, the economy. 0:01:16.720 --> 0:01:18.360 Around this time of year, we do a lot of 0:01:18.400 --> 0:01:21.559 business so so. But but this year, we're not really 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:23.680 doing a gift guide so much as we are talking 0:01:23.680 --> 0:01:27.560 about some of the favorite things that Yeah. Yeah, we 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:31.039 had a listener right in UM and unfortunately I have 0:01:31.120 --> 0:01:33.399 misplaced the email, but we had a listener right in 0:01:33.440 --> 0:01:36.720 and asked us behind the couch what our favorite tech 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:40.399 gifts were actually our favorite pieces of tech total, but 0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:42.920 that's a huge category. So Chris came up with the 0:01:42.920 --> 0:01:45.160 brilliant idea, like, Hey, the holiday season is coming up, 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:48.560 how we talk about the our favorite tech thingies that 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:51.720 we have received as gifts on the holidays? Yeah, and 0:01:51.720 --> 0:01:53.760 and part of the reason I did that was because 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:57.120 some of the biggest tech stuff I've ever owned I 0:01:57.200 --> 0:01:59.880 never got as a gift, and I thought some of 0:01:59.880 --> 0:02:03.320 the coolest tech stuff I got wasn't really gadgety enough. 0:02:03.600 --> 0:02:06.400 So I figured this worked out. It'd be a little 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:08.280 different with order to the geek squad. Right, we're not 0:02:08.320 --> 0:02:11.799 talking just about about gadgets or uh are we. We 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:14.080 We opened up the category a little bit so that 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:16.440 it'll be a little easier. So let's take a little 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:18.640 walk down memory lane and chat about some of the 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:20.840 stuff that we got as UM We're gonna start with 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:23.360 some stuff that we got as kids that kind of 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:26.520 sort of falls into the toy slash tech line and 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:28.920 uh and and work our way up from there. Now, 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:31.880 we're not gonna obviously go year by year, because no, no, no, 0:02:31.960 --> 0:02:33.600 I would take too long. Chris and I have lived 0:02:33.680 --> 0:02:36.440 far too long for that. Yes, thanks a lot for 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:40.480 pointing right now. God, I feel so old. Yeah, start 0:02:40.639 --> 0:02:43.519 go to your first one. Okay. The first one I 0:02:44.160 --> 0:02:47.800 really wanted to bring up, uh was something um that 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:50.799 I got under the tree at my grandmother's house when 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:53.359 I was I think eight years old, And that would 0:02:53.360 --> 0:02:56.920 be Milton Bradley's Big Track and the Transport. Have you 0:02:56.960 --> 0:02:59.240 never seen this thing? I have no idea what you're 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:02.200 talking about. I am impressed, you know, well, I am 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:05.320 older than than Jonathan is. However, um, someone will right 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:07.640 in and and and vindicate how cool this thing was. 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:11.720 Big Track was. Go ahead, it's it's t it's t 0:03:11.960 --> 0:03:15.760 R a K. However, um and Big Track was. And 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:17.760 in my opinion, this totally fits into tech stuff though, 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:20.800 because it was a programmable tank. It's sort of like 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:24.680 a tank of the future. Look at that thing. Yeah, 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:27.840 it was really cool. Um And it would allow you 0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:30.239 to do and it had like a nu merit keep 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:32.799 had on them back on the top of it, and 0:03:32.960 --> 0:03:35.480 um it would allow you to give it a simple 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:38.040 program like you could say, I want you to go left. 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:43.760 I don't know that it had a specific uh distance 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:46.880 programmed into it. You had to kind of go, okay, 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:50.200 I want you to go ahead five some things and 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:53.160 turn left, and then I want you to go forward 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:57.160 seven some things. And by trial and error, you could 0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:01.000 program it to go into the next room and shoot 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:06.600 its little laser cannon at the dog, the television, your parents, uh, 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:08.840 some random corner, and then you'd have to take it 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:12.520 back in reprogram it to turn the other direction. But 0:04:12.560 --> 0:04:14.560 it also came with a really cool transport which you 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:17.120 could plug into the back and it was like a 0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:20.400 dump truck thing because you know, every robotic tank needs 0:04:20.400 --> 0:04:22.599 a dump truck thing that goes in the back. But 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:26.560 you could also you know, go in, turn around, shoot 0:04:26.560 --> 0:04:29.400 at the dog and dump the three nerve balls that 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:33.240 you piled into the back of the transport. UM anyway, 0:04:33.320 --> 0:04:37.320 really cool basic programming thing and really techy sort of 0:04:37.360 --> 0:04:40.360 went along with the starboard, which I also got one 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:43.880 of um no programming involved there. But it did have 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:46.760 an accelerometer in it so that you know, because you 0:04:46.839 --> 0:04:48.640 turned it on and it made engine noises. And it 0:04:48.720 --> 0:04:52.080 was basically a little spaceship. Uh. And you can modify 0:04:52.120 --> 0:04:54.480 it by taking little spaceships on and off of it, 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:56.560 you know, sort of vultron like you could plug it in. 0:04:57.120 --> 0:05:00.599 But um, if you tilted it up, the the sound 0:05:00.640 --> 0:05:02.880 would get, you know, higher in pitch to make it 0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:05.120 sound like it wasn't climbing, or you know, you turn 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:06.680 it down and it would go lower, so you could 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:09.160 fly around the house annoy the living daylights out of 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:11.479 your parents. And uh, you know they were sort of 0:05:11.520 --> 0:05:14.719 related because we were both from Milton Bradley, now owned 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:18.719 by a much larger company that starts with hasbro Um, 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:22.000 but both neat tech gizmos I got as a kid, 0:05:22.040 --> 0:05:25.080 and I just I love those things throve my parents crazy. 0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:27.920 I still have I still have all of that stuff. 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:30.839 You know what that makes me think of? What's that? Okay, 0:05:30.880 --> 0:05:33.440 I wasn't gonna start with this. Actually this wasn't even 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:35.480 on my list. It was only because after hearing you 0:05:35.600 --> 0:05:38.839 that it sparked a memory. Okay, Um, I have the 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:42.960 Blue Army me fisto, rumble robot. I don't think I'm 0:05:43.000 --> 0:05:46.400 familiar with that, the rumble robots. First of all, I 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:49.720 have to admit, rumble robots are not very old. You 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:52.320 see what the picture looks like right there, that's him 0:05:52.400 --> 0:05:55.720 right there, So that that's totally not interesting to all 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:58.360 you audio podcast people out there. So go look up 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:01.880 me FISTO M E F I S t O, and 0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:04.640 that's a rumble robot. Um. All right. First of all, 0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:07.520 interest a full disclosure. I got this gift maybe four 0:06:07.600 --> 0:06:10.760 years ago, so this is not a kid gift. This 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:14.560 is a big kid gift. It's meant for little kids. 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:17.880 But I have the mentality and emotional development of a 0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:20.960 little kid, so it worked out well. But this was 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:23.360 a present to me from a friend of mine, a 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:27.640 friend that he goes by the nickname oz Oz also 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:30.040 has a rumble robot. Oz, by the way, is at 0:06:30.120 --> 0:06:33.520 least six years older than I am. Actually he's older 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:35.840 than that, but I'm going to be nice to oz 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:40.640 Um and so Um, a person even older than I am, 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:44.120 went out and bought rumble robots so that we could 0:06:44.160 --> 0:06:47.719 have robot fights. And that's what these things are. They're 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:52.320 remote controlled rumble Rumble robots. They have UM an ability 0:06:52.360 --> 0:06:55.720 to uh both a physical attack and a little laser attack. 0:06:56.040 --> 0:06:58.520 And the way that you determine how strong your robot 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:02.720 is is you have elector cards that you scan, and 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:04.880 you could scan up to I think it's three or four. 0:07:04.920 --> 0:07:06.440 I can't remember now, it's been a long time since 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:09.600 we played with these UM, but you could scan three 0:07:09.680 --> 0:07:12.320 or four of these cards, which gives your robot certain abilities, 0:07:12.360 --> 0:07:14.880 like it will actually determine how fast it can move. 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:17.720 So if you have a speed of five, it's gonna 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:19.520 go much faster than someone who has a speed of 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:22.920 three and you so you could determine how hard it strikes, 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:25.240 how fast it moves, how powerful it's laser is, how 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:28.840 good its defenses are, and uh, and put your robot 0:07:28.920 --> 0:07:31.960 in battles with another robot. You could also buy supplemental 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:36.280 armor and weapons, which I did so that I could 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:40.360 defeat my my hated opponent. UM. We really should have 0:07:40.600 --> 0:07:42.760 entitled this one Tech Toys, because I have a feeling 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:44.680 where we've started a threat that we're just gonna go 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:46.680 through all the different toys that we've owned. Yes, this 0:07:46.760 --> 0:07:49.960 was this was a gift that a gift that my 0:07:50.040 --> 0:07:52.200 wife would say, it's the gift that keeps on taking 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:54.840 as and it takes her sanity bit by bit as 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:59.280 her husband that rolls the robot around and and uh essentially, 0:07:59.720 --> 0:08:02.320 when ever Oz was not over for us to have 0:08:02.360 --> 0:08:05.920 our robot Wars, I was using the Rumble robot to 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:12.560 antagonize our dogs, which was hysterical alright. Anyway, that that 0:08:12.720 --> 0:08:16.400 technically was not the one I was gonna start off with. Um. 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:19.680 I was actually gonna talk about a collection of the 0:08:20.200 --> 0:08:21.840 stuff that I got as a kid that really got 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:25.960 me kind of interested in technology and allay, So now 0:08:26.400 --> 0:08:28.360 I would I grew up in the in the late 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:32.000 seventies early eighties, so I grew up just as the 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:36.480 merchandizing craze began for for like, where the cartoons and 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:40.680 the toys were really closely tied in together. So you know, 0:08:40.920 --> 0:08:44.480 started by Star Wars. Okay, so Star Wars Lucas he 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:47.239 hit on something brilliant. He managed to hit that merchandizing 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:50.480 nail right on the head. So of course I did 0:08:50.480 --> 0:08:53.360 own a lot of Star Wars toys, including the Millennium Falcon, 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:56.400 which I count as a gadget because it made noises 0:08:56.920 --> 0:08:59.400 and it was awesome. And I had uh you know, 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:01.680 I had like a high interceptor at a Thai fighter 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:05.400 had the X Wing fighter. Um, I didn't have a 0:09:05.480 --> 0:09:08.800 y Wing. I need to talk to my parents. And 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:10.840 I have an ad AT either. That's what I always wanted, 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:13.400 was one of the ad ats, the huge ad ats, yes, 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:18.319 the all terrain attack transports. Um did not have one. 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:21.320 A friend of mine did though, and we we used 0:09:21.320 --> 0:09:24.560 to have amazing battles. So. But I also was a 0:09:24.559 --> 0:09:28.360 big human fan. I don't make apologies. I was a kid. 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:30.760 I had no sense of taste. So I had a 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:33.680 castle gray skull at a snake mountain. Uh. And I 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:36.079 was a big Transformers fan, so I had lots of Transformers, 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:38.160 which also kind of sort of count as gadgets, but 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:40.720 not really because then you know, again, it was something 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:44.200 that got me interested in science fiction and gadgetry in general. Um, 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:47.800 these toys. Yeah, and the robots, which literally led to 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:51.360 my enjoyment of the Rumble robot. Um. But these were little, 0:09:51.360 --> 0:09:54.400 tiny building blocks upon which I began to build my 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:59.079 obsession for gadgets in tech. I I just thought of something. 0:09:59.800 --> 0:10:02.400 They thank you for that, because I actually just thought 0:10:02.400 --> 0:10:04.440 of something that fits perfectly in that. Oh, dear lord, 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:05.760 this is good. This is going to be like a 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:09.000 fifteen minute podcast. You know. I will mention it briefly. 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:11.839 Do you remember those kids that you used to be 0:10:11.840 --> 0:10:13.280 able to buy at radio shack. I don't know if 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:14.680 you could still do it, but the ones with the 0:10:14.720 --> 0:10:19.000 little springs and wires and basically they were a very 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:22.959 simple computer and you could you attach you know, you 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:25.960 attach a wire to spring six and oh, you know, 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:28.000 you you move it over to other stuff. Now they 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:30.319 have stuff like this and uh, you know, make magazine. 0:10:30.800 --> 0:10:34.600 They have much more advanced versions of this where you 0:10:34.600 --> 0:10:36.680 can you know, basically pull the wires in and out 0:10:36.760 --> 0:10:38.800 and it's it's it's not the same type of thing. 0:10:38.800 --> 0:10:41.160 This was really aimed at kids. But you could make 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:45.760 like a basic AM crystal radio receiver thing, and you could, 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:48.160 you know, modify at different places. I haven't. I have 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:50.080 no idea where that thing went. I have most of 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:51.960 my choice from childhood, but I don't have that. But 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:54.560 I do remember getting that early on, probably when I 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:57.120 was you know, uh, you know, ten years old or 0:10:57.160 --> 0:11:00.240 something like that. Yeah, right around that same time, same age, 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:02.240 not the same time, but when I was about ten 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:05.720 years old. Um, I got one of my favorite gadget 0:11:05.800 --> 0:11:09.199 gifts of all my childhood, which is weird concerning the 0:11:09.200 --> 0:11:11.480 fact that I never really developed a proficiency with it. 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:16.720 It was a Cassio keyboard. The musical keyboard, not the 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:21.400 computer keyboard. We're talking about a a little electronic piano. 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:23.680 Please tell me. It wasn't a little itty bittye with 0:11:23.720 --> 0:11:27.440 the It wasn't that. No, No, it was a model. 0:11:27.559 --> 0:11:30.880 It was a step up from that. Um No, it 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:36.360 was that one definitely definitely had the horrible pre programmed 0:11:36.400 --> 0:11:40.520 electronic drum tracks. Yeah, and I can't remember. I can't 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:43.319 remember what the demo song was anymore. But I could 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:46.360 only play by ear and because I never learned to 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:49.439 really play the thing. But I really enjoyed it. Um 0:11:49.480 --> 0:11:52.240 and uh and I remember that. Uh. I was a 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:55.040 big fan of learning different songs somehow. I mean, I 0:11:55.480 --> 0:11:57.960 think it's just a law that if you own a 0:11:57.960 --> 0:12:01.200 little electric keyboard, eventually, even if you've never heard the 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:04.360 song before, you eventually learned how to play Heart and Soul. Yeah. 0:12:04.640 --> 0:12:07.200 I don't know how that happens, because that was one 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:09.360 of the songs I learned to play by ear. I 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:12.200 don't ever remember hearing that song before I had the keyboard, 0:12:12.440 --> 0:12:15.079 and I don't know how the hell I I encountered it, 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:18.080 but I learned how to play it, and thankfully it 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:20.400 has replaced I mean, the Heart and Soul is at 0:12:20.480 --> 0:12:23.840 least timeless. When I was around a lot of people 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:27.040 who were playing around with those, it was axel lef from. 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:29.360 I did learn how to play that. I learned how 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:32.959 to play the Empire March from the Impress dricks back 0:12:33.000 --> 0:12:37.400 the Imperial March. Um. Yeah, I learned a few pretty 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:40.280 lame songs. I also was very envious of my friend 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:43.120 who lived down the street because he had one of 0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:46.560 the electronic keyboards that allowed you to record a a 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:48.360 sound bite and then it would play it back at 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:52.080 different pitches, which of course meant that we spent hours 0:12:52.080 --> 0:12:56.040 of fun giggling over saying naughty words into the synthesizer 0:12:56.080 --> 0:12:59.000 and then making it play it at chipmunk and uh 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:03.120 and like super stoner speeds. And you know, we have 0:13:03.320 --> 0:13:07.320 a whole lot of people who are are our younger 0:13:07.360 --> 0:13:10.120 listeners who are just going, dude, I could so totally 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:13.040 do that. You just gave them all ideas. It's there's 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:18.680 nothing like playing jingle bells using an expletive at different 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:22.000 pitches as the only note through the whole thing. Okay, 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:24.160 so I'm going to change the subject now, Okay, go ahead, 0:13:24.160 --> 0:13:26.720 I'm any of their parents. I'm actually about to start 0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:30.400 giggling all over again. I'll bet you are. I wish 0:13:30.440 --> 0:13:33.240 I could remember the name of the manufacturer because it 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:35.320 wasn't a brand name. But I got one of my 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:38.559 very first portable cassette player. I got us a gift, 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:43.160 and uh it, it's really cool because it's not cool now. 0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:46.640 It was really cool then because it had a cassette 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:49.959 adapter that would allow it to receive radio. So you know, 0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:51.760 I could take out the tape and put in this 0:13:51.840 --> 0:13:54.640 adapter and you know, scroll a things sideways and it 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:56.800 would actually get radio, which was really cool. I used 0:13:56.800 --> 0:13:59.400 it for years and years to paint war off of it. Yes, 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:03.360 it had paint. And were they actually broadcasting radio back then? 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:10.520 Jonathan h Later it turned so ugly before the end 0:14:10.600 --> 0:14:12.200 of the podcast and the in the in the not 0:14:12.360 --> 0:14:16.840 too uh even distant past, it's probably five or six 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:21.120 years well now, it's probably around two thousand, two thousand one. 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:24.640 I got a my last portable device that wasn't an 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:28.480 all digital device would be the Reo volt player from 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:31.760 Sonic Blue, which was would allow you to play discs 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:33.560 like I had a couple of discmn that I bought, 0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:36.280 actually got one as a gift, you know, My very 0:14:36.280 --> 0:14:39.160 first discman was a gift. But the Sonic Blue was 0:14:39.200 --> 0:14:40.800 kind of cool because it would allow you to play 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:43.200 to make a disc of MP three files, so you 0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:45.960 could listen to a you know, off the shelf CD, 0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:48.640 or you could listen to a CD of m P three's, 0:14:48.640 --> 0:14:55.040 which until I got an iPod, was really useful. Yeah, um, 0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:57.160 that was kind of cool. It actually got stolen along 0:14:57.160 --> 0:15:01.200 with a pair of den On headphones, really awesome headphones 0:15:01.240 --> 0:15:03.760 that guy as a gift from my dad. Um and 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:06.560 unfortunately those we're both stolen when my house was broken into. 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:10.880 But anyway, those were all my music type gadgets together. Well, 0:15:10.920 --> 0:15:13.320 if I'm talking about music type gadgets, they're really only 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:16.840 two that I can talk about. There were gifts. One 0:15:17.200 --> 0:15:19.880 was my very first CD player, which was a portable 0:15:19.920 --> 0:15:22.560 CD player. You plugged headphones into it, it didn't you know, 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:25.040 or you could plug it I guess you could have 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:26.760 a male to male connector and plug it into an 0:15:26.800 --> 0:15:29.680 auxiliary for you know, some other radio. But it had 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:33.720 no native speakers. It's just a little c CD player 0:15:33.800 --> 0:15:35.840 And uh, I got it. It was probably a couple 0:15:35.880 --> 0:15:37.760 of years after CDs came out. Like, guys, you gotta 0:15:37.760 --> 0:15:41.200 remember if you weren't around when compact disks first came out, 0:15:41.840 --> 0:15:46.280 Compact displayers, like all new technology, were pretty expensive. Um, 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:49.080 that was something where I really wanted one. But at 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:51.160 the same time I knew that it was it was 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:53.600 kind of an extravagant gift, so I felt badly about 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:56.320 asking for one. But my parents did get me. They 0:15:56.320 --> 0:16:01.080 got me a refurbished uh portable CD player or Christmas gift, 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:03.560 a couple a couple of years after the CD players 0:16:03.560 --> 0:16:06.160 had first hit the market, so still they're still in 0:16:06.200 --> 0:16:09.120 the fairly expensive rangel that they weren't extravagantly expensive at 0:16:09.120 --> 0:16:12.680 that point. Um, and I think that gift, I think 0:16:12.720 --> 0:16:15.720 they ended up really liking that gift for me, because 0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:19.480 from on subsequent Christmas is I would ask them for um, 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:21.800 classical music cd s, which I don't know if you've 0:16:21.800 --> 0:16:24.280 ever gone shopping for classical music CDs, but you can 0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:27.240 buy like fifty for a buck. I mean, it's crazy 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:30.400 how many you can purchase, uh for a really cheap price. 0:16:30.440 --> 0:16:32.320 And so they were like, you know, my sister would 0:16:32.320 --> 0:16:34.480 be asking for a new computer, and I'd be asking 0:16:34.520 --> 0:16:37.720 for you know, I would like this Broms collection. So 0:16:38.320 --> 0:16:40.240 uh so that ended up being the gift that kept 0:16:40.240 --> 0:16:44.440 on giving. But the other music present that I received 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:49.280 was my first MP three player, which was a Creative 0:16:49.360 --> 0:16:53.240 Zen Touch twenty gigabyte. And you might have heard me 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:57.200 talk about this once before, the Creative Zen Touch. It 0:16:57.400 --> 0:17:01.280 was what a heavy MP three player that thing was. 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:04.879 I mean, it felt like a brick of lead, but 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:08.119 it was awesome. It held so much music. It was 0:17:08.160 --> 0:17:10.520 the first time I had ever had a device that 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:15.520 could hold that much content, uh, you know, considering how 0:17:15.560 --> 0:17:17.640 small it was. And I had a little touch sensitive 0:17:17.680 --> 0:17:19.440 bar in the center that would allow you to scroll 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:21.479 up and scroll down, although that did get a little 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:24.760 wonky towards the end of its life. But that was 0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:28.000 a great device. I really enjoyed it, um despite the 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:31.800 fact that it did weigh just under a metric time. Yeah, 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:35.119 actually that reminds me because um my, uh, you know, 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:38.199 I wasn't actually done with my music gadgets the very 0:17:38.280 --> 0:17:43.280 last one was my my very first iPod, the click Wheel, 0:17:43.480 --> 0:17:46.760 the very last black and white, which is still running fine, 0:17:46.800 --> 0:17:49.399 thank you very much. Battery life is terrible when I 0:17:49.440 --> 0:17:52.920 haven't had it replaced. Unda, you can't even get through 0:17:52.960 --> 0:18:00.800 the whole song. It darnish um now, um, actually it's 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:02.040 kind of hard to get through, and it got a 0:18:02.200 --> 0:18:07.160 veto on a new iPods a long song. It approximately 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:11.119 lasts about as long as your average German opera. No, 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:14.040 I'm just just teasing now, um, but yeah, that was 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:18.159 my my first all digital player and coincidentally, uh just 0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:21.280 before No, it was just after my my house was 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:25.400 broken into. But my wife and I exchanged iPods that year, 0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:29.560 decided to well here's your here's your iPod. Well now 0:18:29.640 --> 0:18:32.199 we have a reason nice. Well now we got them 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:35.600 engraved with our names, so sweet you know yea, So 0:18:35.680 --> 0:18:37.480 now I'm going, okay, I need to recyclist. But it 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:42.000 has my naming graved on. Darn now someone will know 0:18:42.119 --> 0:18:44.359 my name. Well you never know, you got it. You 0:18:44.440 --> 0:18:45.960 have to run it through the shredder and it it 0:18:46.040 --> 0:18:47.919 just match this big mess. Yeah, you definitely don't want 0:18:47.960 --> 0:18:50.960 people seeing how many like of the Wiggles songs you 0:18:51.080 --> 0:18:54.359 have on there or whatever. I do have wiggles songs. God, 0:18:54.440 --> 0:18:56.760 I was hoping you didn't. I was so hoping I 0:18:56.840 --> 0:19:01.480 also have children. This is true, all right. So so 0:19:01.880 --> 0:19:05.720 game consoles. I've actually received three game consoles as gifts. 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:09.040 Now I own more than three game consoles, but only 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:14.399 three of them were presents. It could me me also, um. 0:19:14.520 --> 0:19:17.280 And then I also got a Sega Dreamcast, and I 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:20.159 got the Sega Dreamcast after the Dreamcast was already a 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:24.000 dead product. So but it didn't matter to me because 0:19:24.119 --> 0:19:26.760 the games were still awesome. You could pick up any 0:19:27.040 --> 0:19:30.920 used game form for a song. And also that was 0:19:30.960 --> 0:19:33.479 really embarrassing going in and singing to those people. Well, 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:36.520 but didn't get anything. I'm a ham like I care. 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:38.840 I'll go in and sing anywhere. People have to stop 0:19:38.880 --> 0:19:41.200 me from singing here. Uh. And then the third one 0:19:41.400 --> 0:19:44.800 was the PlayStation two. Ah, yes, which I also got 0:19:45.320 --> 0:19:49.199 well after it had started to Uh well, I mean 0:19:49.240 --> 0:19:51.800 it's still they're still making games for it. So yes, yes, 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:54.479 well I actually got mine. Uh. I bought my PlayStation two, 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:56.560 but got one of the very last ones before they 0:19:56.560 --> 0:20:01.200 went to the new slim design. Um. Yeah, the actually 0:20:01.200 --> 0:20:03.760 wasn't a gift around a holiday or anything like that. 0:20:03.840 --> 0:20:06.440 It was one of those things that I think my 0:20:06.520 --> 0:20:09.920 parents just decided to spring on me because they wanted 0:20:09.960 --> 0:20:13.200 to and nice an occasionally. Hey, you know what, surprise 0:20:13.359 --> 0:20:16.000 here it is, so it counts it's a gift. I 0:20:16.080 --> 0:20:19.520 also got a Sega Genesis as a holiday gift one 0:20:19.600 --> 0:20:21.280 year or so. That was kind of If any of 0:20:21.359 --> 0:20:24.560 these sounds unfamiliar to you, guys, because you're fourteen to 0:20:24.640 --> 0:20:26.120 the end, are a lot of you who are four teens? Yeah, 0:20:26.119 --> 0:20:27.399 I go to the internet and look them up, and 0:20:27.480 --> 0:20:29.840 you can see what kind of crazy game systems these 0:20:29.880 --> 0:20:32.120 two old fogies like to play when they were kids. 0:20:32.520 --> 0:20:34.760 Have another older gadget too, but it's not a game system. 0:20:34.920 --> 0:20:38.119 What's that? Uh? I got my very first p D 0:20:38.240 --> 0:20:43.159 a Personal Digital assistant, uh when for a gift one year, 0:20:43.480 --> 0:20:46.480 which was the hand Spring Visor Deluxe, which ran on 0:20:46.560 --> 0:20:49.040 the old Palm operating system. So a p d A 0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:50.359 for those of you who don't know, it's like a 0:20:50.440 --> 0:20:55.119 smartphone without the phone. Yeah, yeah, black and white. You know, 0:20:56.359 --> 0:20:58.760 I think, what's sixteen shades of gray? I don't know anyway, 0:20:59.240 --> 0:21:05.159 uh No, but it was no. It was my my 0:21:05.240 --> 0:21:08.680