One of our interns makes it big by carrying a Walkman for a week

Wee Scott Campbell of Aberdeen, Scotland is 13 years old and sent us an email last week asking if he could write for us. He’s been doing pieces here and there but clearly what he lacks in physical age he makes up for in chutzpah. And so, much to my surprise, I wake up this morning to discover young Campbell on BBC comparing an iPod to a Walkman with his mum and generally impressing the heck out of us.

The bairn writes:

My dad had told me it was the iPod of its day.

He had told me it was big, but I hadn’t realised he meant THAT big. It was the size of a small book.

When I saw it for the first time, its colour also struck me. Nowadays gadgets come in a rainbow of colours but this was only one shade – a bland grey.

So it’s not exactly the most aesthetically pleasing choice of music player. If I was browsing in a shop maybe I would have chosen something else.

From a practical point of view, the Walkman is rather cumbersome, and it is certainly not pocket-sized, unless you have large pockets. It comes with a handy belt clip screwed on to the back, yet the weight of the unit is enough to haul down a low-slung pair of combats.

Browsing in a shop! Ha! Scott, if you were browsing in a shop back in the 1980s they wouldn’t have noticed you simply because you would have been the germ of an impetirive in the heads of Mr. and Mrs. Campbell. However, hats off to you, young Scotsman, and, as they say, “Tak awa Aiberdeen an twal mile roun an far ar ye?,” for you, lad, are in it.