CCt333+Weekly+Lab+Response+Question+1


 * LAB1 - Compare and Contrast the SONY WALKMAN and the IPOD**

The Sony Walkman and the IPOD both function in order to provide music for the user, however the technology and design of it is significantly different. The physical construction of a Walkman is bulky, big and compared to the IPOD is quite inconvenient. In addition to the Walkman the earphones themselves are large and very hard to put away. The user also has to be very careful when handling the earphones because they are quite large and delicate. If anything falls or breaks off from the earphones it may leave the user with nothing to listen to. The Walkman requires an individual to carry the tapes they want to listen to and also have room to store the device somewhere if they are on the move. Since tapes have to be carried along with the Walkman the user needs to also have room for these tapes. Since the Walkman is portable, batteries are required. Therefore, the user needs to carry around batteries with them also. The fast-forward, rewind, play and stop buttons are big and recognizable, and can break easily or jam if the user is not careful with the device. The tapes themselves can also jam, restraining the user from listening to anything or leaving them to consider listening to other tapes (that’s even if they have any on them). The physical construction of an IPOD is much more convenient and appealing to the user. Its confined size makes it much more convenient for the user to bring it with them almost everywhere and being discreet with it. The headphones are also much smaller and lenient to put away, or do physical activities with. With the IPOD being significantly compact and mobile, one is allowed to do almost any physical activity, whether it be at the gym, or outdoor running, dancing, almost anything with any physical movement. This is because the design of the device makes it easier to carry because it is very compact and small. There are also products that are specifically designed to attach the IPOD to certain parts of the body so that physical activities can be carried out effectively without feeling restrained from doing anything because one wants to listen to music. The buttons on the IPOD are highly advanced and one doesn’t need to put any physical effort in pressing the buttons because it is quite sensitive to the touch. Appearance wise, the IPOD is much more appealing and diverse since one can easily choose a specific colour that they would prefer. It displays the name of songs, the artists, album titles, almost any information about whatever the user is listening to, creating an efficient user and device relationship. In this case, the user interacts with the device more effectively for they actually hold onto it to read the song titles they are looking for, whereas the Walkman requires one to just press a button without any visual interaction involved. Compared to the Walkman the IPOD is compact with information that allows the user to possibly get through the day. It contains the time, different time zones, an alarm clock, calendars, games, an FM radio tuner, stopwatch, voice recorder and many more applications that make the Walkman look significantly outdated. The ability to shuffle songs, make a play list, list songs in alphabetical order, replay songs, watch videos is reasonably convenient since it may kill time if someone is bored on an airplane ,a bus or simply waiting for something with just an IPOD in their vicinity. The sound between the IPOD and the Walkman differs because of the analog and digital factor. The Walkman is analog and consists of the AM and FM radio tuners, however may be quite limited based on the location of the user and the signal. This may frequently result in static rather than high definition sound in comparison to the IPOD. The IPOD's sound efficiency is very clear, without any static. The volume of the IPOD is significantly high and if one constantly listens to the high volume the hearing of the user can be temporarily affected in some cases. However, if the headphones are in poor condition, perhaps from being too old or used too often, then the sound can be quite static and the quality of of the volume can be poor.