Things Used to Work in This Country

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the author's appreciation for a vintage General Electric radio that has been passed down through their family for generations. It explores the radio's enduring functionality and how it represents a time when personal technology "just worked" without the need for complex digital interfaces and accounts.

🙋 Q&A

[01] The Family Radio

1. What are the key features of the family radio described in the article?

• It is a heavy, square box with a dirty plastic back and a metallic, dented front with a textured surface
• It has a leather strap for easy carrying and a retractable metal antenna
• It has a vertical orange needle that moves across frequency scales, controlled by a metal knob
• It has a total of 4 knobs, a switch, and labels for AM/FM, volume, and "General Electric"
• The author's family has owned this radio for at least 50 years

2. How does the author describe the radio's role in their family history?

• The author's mother remembers her family listening to the radio after dinner
• The author remembers hearing the Phillies baseball games on the radio during summers
• The radio was recently used to listen to a Phillies game when the family couldn't get the game on modern streaming services

3. What challenges did the family face in trying to use modern technology to listen to the baseball game?

• They tried to stream the game on the TV but had issues with the pirating site
• The MLB app required a cable provider login, which they didn't have
• They tried to sign up for a free Hulu trial but couldn't remember their passwords
• After multiple unsuccessful searches, they couldn't find a way to stream the local radio station online

4. How did the family ultimately listen to the game?

• They pulled up the radio's long antenna and tuned it to the FM station
• They turned the volume knob all the way up and were able to hear the game through the radio's speakers

[02] The Radio as a Family Heirloom

1. Why does the author consider the GE radio a family heirloom, despite its utilitarian design?

• The radio has accompanied the family through three generations of baseball games, school closures, and Saturday morning radio
• It has endured and continued to function for over 50 years, despite its age
• The radio represents a time when personal technology "just worked" without the need for complex digital interfaces

2. How does the author contrast the radio's design with more traditional heirlooms?

• The radio is made of "alien plastic" rather than the "friendly and graceful materials" typically associated with heirlooms
• However, the radio's "amiable proportions and cleanly delineated squares and circles" give it a certain pleasing design
• The radio has a "serious banality in color and texture" that evokes a nostalgic sense of the 1980s

3. What does the author say about the radio's reliability and longevity compared to modern personal technology?

• The author cannot think of any other personal technology they expect to be able to pass down to their grandchildren in working order
• Even Apple products, which the author considers relatively durable, may only last 10 years with repairs
• In contrast, the GE radio has continued to work reliably for 50 years with minimal maintenance

4. How does the author view the simplicity of the radio's interface compared to modern technology?

• The author appreciates the radio's straightforward controls, like turning knobs and pushing buttons, rather than navigating "downloads, platforms, passwords, pull-down menus, verifications or account recovery protocols"
• The author sees the radio's simplicity as uniting generations, as its interface can be easily mastered through direct experimentation
• The author contrasts this with the "bureaucracy" of modern personal technology, which they see as a poor use of human time and energy