Our ancestors did have pocket sized music players in the 1920s – They just required some assembly

Silver tin with top open and a wind-up handle on the side. On top, and offset slightly, is an orange flat disc. Above that is a vertical disc with words Mikrophone pocket phonograph on the side, with a needle protruding from the bottom down to the orange disc.

I grew up in the era of having 78 RPM and 33 1/3 RPM records, but never saw one of these at all. The first pocket sized player I saw was a Sony Walkman which used the C90 cassette tapes.

This device is certainly super portable (before amplifiers were around) but does require a few minutes of careful assembly. It looks like that is a full size 33 1/3 RPM record, but I’m wondering how much weight presses down on the needle. Of course, back then the needles, and records, were a lot tougher than in the 1960s and 1970s, where stylus arms were better balanced for lighter weight and better tracking.

Of course, it still works are nearly 100 years, and will even work in South Africa without any electricity required during load shedding. Yes, it’s also true that being clockwork, it probably even plays underwater! I’m really doubting that much of our technology in 2023 will be playing as-is in 2123.

See https://hackaday.com/2023/10/23/is-that-a-record-player-in-your-pocket-or/

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