Music Box

It is strange this post is from me, considering I love electronic gadgets and keep buying more of them than I really need.

My parents are in their 80s and they are not comfortable using a computer or mobile devices. I have got them a Sony MP3 Player and a Logitech Slimbox  to listen to music.  A Google TV, an Apple TV to watch movies and see pictures, but after a day they give up. It’s no fault of them, they are a generation that’s used to touching/feeling switches and knobs; not just touching them. Recently when my uncle was visiting us after we moved back to our house following renovation, he gifted them an electronic Music Box. It’s like a portable juke box that has few dozen album collections of all popular devotional songs in Tamil & Sanskrit. To operate you have to move a switch between options, turn a dial to the album number you want and voila it plays. No CDs to fumble with, No iTunes app to launch, navigate and loss yourself. On seeing it I immediately dismissed it a waste of Rs.1500 that my uncle spent to buy it.

But watching my parents use the box everyday for last many weeks, I am impressed. There is room for innovation in music player space. But it’s a super niche market, like in this case for aged people like my parents.