Bring the Boombox Back

It is a symbol of the 80s and an icon for a whole genre of music, and because of that it bears a certain connotation: it looks strange if it's not cradled on the sweaty shoulder of a Knicks throwback with an upturned cycling hat and a gold rope or sitting beside a pair of fresh pumps on a stoop in BX.The boombox represents what it meant to be a music lover (or a hip-hopper) in the mid 1980s. But, even though LL Cool J immortalized the device in his biggest hit "I Can't Live Without My Radio", there's no denying that the boombox has died out. Ever since the Walkman made music more portable and more personal, people have traded in ghettoblasters for ear buds, much to the delight of the MTA, but what is this trend – which, of course, has only grown worse with the advent of the multi-functional iPod – turning us into?NPR did this segment on the history of the boombox, interviewing everyone from Fab 5 Freddy to random old guys on the street,. In the end, they make some very keen observations about today's generation of music lovers, and address the idea that how we choose to listen to music can affect our culture at large.It's a long clip but well worth the time.Salaam/Shalom/Peace- You Don't Have to Love Me