Here’s my MP3 player. Uh-huh…
Are you all done laughing now? My Sony Walkman is about three or four or five years old. (I don’t even remember!) I received it as a Christmas present after my previous Sony Walkman (a tube model that did not even have a picture screen) died. It holds 4 gigabytes of music and in addition to providing hours of entertainment, has suffered dents and scratches and has been lost and found multiple times. It’s well used and much loved. And, it still works!
In this age of ubiquitous iPods and music playing apps, the fact that it still works is the main reason I haven’t replaced it yet. Sure, it’s kind of an oddity amid the iPods and smartphone media players, but… it works. As a bonus, having a separate MP3 player prevents my phone battery from dying a quick death each day. So if it works, why would I even consider getting a new MP3 player? Well, like I said, my Walkman is pretty old. It doesn’t have a lot of features and it’s banged up and in rough physical shape. Would it be worth it to get a new MP3 player?
A new, shiny iPod would cost me over $100
. Even if I went for the refurbished model, it would still be at least 80 bucks and Apple is discontinuing most iPods anyways. Even if I used it for four years again, that’s a cost of $25 per year. My MP3 player was free – that makes it (duh…) free every year I use it.
True, I don’t have a lot of options with my Walkman. And the shuffle isn’t quite as random as I would hope. But it’s not worth $25 a year to me. As long as it plays music, I don’t really have a lot of other requirements.
This is true for many items that I own. Sure, I would love to have a matching set of large bowls. I’m Asian, I need my noodle soups! But the random bowl that I got at Wonderbucks and the ceramic bowl that I borrowed-and-didn’t-return from my parents works fine. When they break, I will be happy to replace them. But why spend the money now? Likewise, I am planning on replacing my couch, my kitchen table, my 6 year-old TV… but NOT until the time is right, even if I would prefer to be rid of them now.
So for now, I’m holding on to my old Sony Walkman
. You can laugh at it if you like. 😉
