Walter Cronkite and the Record Eater...

Hopefully everyone has a chance to stroll through the Cronkite 'newseum' on the 2nd floor of the Cronkite Institute. It is a pretty kick-ass time machine if I do say so myself, with looping images and news packages about Cronkite's personal and professional life, and focuses on his role during the Civil Rights movement, the violence towards schoolgirls in the South, and the Vietnam War.

LBJ famously noted that "when I lost Walter Cronkite I knew we'd lost the American people"- his influence and impact on American life in the 1960s is no doubt undervalued, and I wish I knew more about his life- needless to say, check out the museum, it's filled with incredible documents, texts, photos, and most impressive- just about every camera and piece of news technology or media and their subsequent evolution are on display. Below are a few items of note, including the Italian "irradiette"- which I'd heard of but never seen (I am an avid vinyl collector)- this portable bad boy was the predecessor of the mobile Apple products, I'm convinced, especially with that keen Italian design. It's a rare item (not even listed on eBay!)...known stateside as the "record eater" it is definitely a Discman or iPod 0.1...too many photos to list, but I dig vinyl and old typewriters so here's this...

Cody Roberts
Milby High School
Houston