Rant #1,726: Out of the Boom Box

We all have our "devices," and by that I mean our phones and tablets and computers, upon which we store the music we like to listen to.

We can also listen to a wealth of radio stations simply at the touch of a button or two, and basically, by hooking up our devices to headphones or earbuds, we can virtually listen to all the music we need to listen to, or want to listen to.

And if we are talking about phones, everything fits right into our pocket.

Such is the digital age that we are in now.

But 30 years or so ago, it was a much different story.

Bigger was better, and one of the "icons" of the 1980s was walking around with a boom box, one of those huge music players which tapped you into your music via the radio, cassette, and later, CDs.

People used to walk around with these things, carrying them almost like musical luggage, and the bigger, and more features, the better.

We have moved the other way now, and smaller seems to be better, at least in size. We can store hundreds of MP3s on our devices, and what they lack in size, they pack in storage capacity and what they can actually do, beyond being a phone.

But back then, the bigger the better, and you can say that times have really changed in this aspect of the ways we listen to music.

But wait, it is 2016, and it appears the boom box is back, if they ever really went away in the first place.

People will never carry around these things again like they once did, but the current assortment of boom boxes do so much more than their counterparts did.

Electronics companies simply adapted them to the current need, and they have made them a viable component again, especially if you are at the local swimming hole or at the local picnic grounds.

Many of them now offer a direct hookup to your digital device, and many even have storage capacity for you music.

Many not only play the radio and CDs, but they also play thumb drives.

And just about every one out there now hooks up to Bluetooth, providing users with even more capabilities.

In my case, a boom box is a nice thing to have when we need it.

We have a backyard pool, and during the summer, on the weekend, my wife and I like to lounge around in it, usually revolving around a barbecue that we are having later in the day.

We like to listen to music on a hot day in the pool, and an iPod simply won't do, so a boom box is what we need, and what we have been using when we do this.

Usually, we hook up with certain oldies stations, and while away the time with a familiar musical backdrop.

We had such a boom box, but after three years of usage, we think the heat burned out the radio circuits, and the thing died on us this year.

It was kind of an old fashioned unit, with no capabilities other than AM/FM and CD.

Needing a new unit, we just bought a nicer, higher-tech boom box, and it provides numerous features, including the ability to play from a thumb drive--and even transfer music from CD to a thumb drive--and Bluetooth.

We haven't used it for its desired purpose yet, but I know that when we do, it will be a seamless move from the old unit we had to the new unit we now have.

And by the way, it is not called a boom box anymore, it is called a "personal audio system," so I guess it has moved into the present time.

I wonder if it will eventually use the acronym "PAS," and that will firmly bring it into our current world.

But whatever the case, and whatever you call it, boom boxes appear to be back, and they are better than ever.

I am wondering what else will come back from the 1980s, and thinking back to that time, if this is the only thing that comes back from that era, I will be more than happy.