Ellie Williams(Bella Ramsey) runs in the indoor gym in the seventh episode Last of us. His face is irritated and possibly tired. Around her, others do what she does. Everything seems like a new gym class, with little news, until one of her classmates comes up behind her and removes her headphones.

The sequence hints to the viewer that the main character has few friends and that she does not feel comfortable in the environment in which she finds herself. Thanks to the musical arrangement, it turns out that songs are an escape route. A few moments before the described moment, the camera of the series HBO he took a close-up of the device Ellie used to listen to her favorite songs. This player.

This is a device that, when viewed from the present, can be considered a relic. Large and awkward item to carry. However, more than forty years ago it was a revolution in the music industry. Songs were no longer played only on the radio or on a turntable at home or in a bar; they could also be heard while walking. All thanks to the player and the cassette.

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Player history

Unlike today’s dynamic where music can be played in multiple ways, with song libraries and recordings available with just a few clicks, in the past, cassettes were the most portable way to play. They were invented by Philips in 1962 and allowed 30 to 45 minutes of recording time per side of a magnetic tape. The existence of this resource forced the creation of another one.

Ellie uses the player in the seventh episode of The Last of Us 2.

A device was required to listen to these recordings. Home cassette players were developed first. They were placed on a table or desk and connected to some kind of sound system. The pioneer in the creation of devices of this type was once again Philips, which released the Philips EL 3300 in 1963.

However, the evolution regarding music consumption did not stop there. As with all technology, part of the innovation included miniaturization, achieving similar results in smaller devices, and incorporating other elements such as the ability to listen to AM, FM, or shortwave radio.

Over time, it became possible to play cassettes on portable devices that did not need to be connected to the current, hung on a belt or placed in a large pocket. Then favorite songs could be heard at work, school or, like Ellie in Last of usworking out.

July 1, 1979 sony introduced one of its most recognizable trademarks: player. The name was the result of the logic described above: people came and went from one place to another and listened to their favorite music. It was enough to have a cassette of a group or artist, insert it into the mechanism with a couple of AA batteries and press the button. play. The impact was such that the object has been known by that name ever since. That is, the brand has become a descriptive word for a portable device for listening to tapes, regardless of the company that produced it.

In the same 1979, albums such as: WallPink Floyd, The believer sings the truthJohnny Cash off the wallMichael Jackson, Regatta de Blancfrom the police or Latest songsLeonard Cohen. It was a time when pop and rock competed for audiences. New and established artists compete for people’s attention, and the Walkman has served as a bridge between the two.

At the time, the popularity of artists was measured not by the number of plays on Spotify or views on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, but by the number of records sold. Today, the Walkman is a vintage item and at the same time a cult device, because for many people it was the first direct contact with music. And, above all, with the possibility of listening anywhere. It is estimated that at least 385 million units have been sold since its release. sonyThe company has even taken advantage of the importance of the registered trademark to launch other products under that signature, such as recording devices.

player in Last of us

After this close-up Last of usin which it manifests itself in an obvious way, player is a different character. Ellie is careful to get it and return it after it was taken from her. In a moment of deep loneliness, without advice from adults and without friends to share a healthy way with, the protagonist of the story gives himself up to music.

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The musical notes add some color to the gray background. Childhood was reduced to walls and hierarchies, very different from what Ellie might have known before the end of the world. For the spectator Last of us, the topics are the coordinate. Depending on the song and the time of its release (60s, 70s or 80s), the main characters are in more or less danger.

Source: Hiper Textual

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