Quotes of the day

Checked the news, found one of those stories that means little, but still makes you think back and cogitate: all those pieces of magnetic meaning, arrayed for your enjoyment. Yes: Sony has discontinued the original Walkman, the big thick units that played cassette tapes. This is where someone attempts to sound hip by saying “What’s a cassette tape?” as if ignorance of things that preceded your brief tenure on this verdant rock is somehow a mark of distinction. We loved cassettes when they first came out, because they were a portable, compact storage medium. I got my first cassette recorder in 1969 – a Magnavox I wore on a shoulder strap like Spock’s tricorder, and it had a microphone. I took it over to Northport Shopping Center to ask people what they thought of the Apollo program. Probably the last bit of real journalism I ever did.--James Lileks