Recent purchase of a cherry red transistor radio was not nostalgic. Its appeal was a slit on its side into which a thumb drive can be inserted for the listening pleasure of family music captured on that thumb drive.

It’s simple: a volume wheel, an on-off switch, a button to change radio stations, and the aforementioned slit.

It is handy: no password, no booting up, no subscription, no charging.

It’s a one-way medium: no interaction, none whatsoever with the rare exception of calling a phone number to win a radio station giveaway, which rarely live up to the hype anyway.

I am nostalgic for those features. All in all, it was a very timely purchase.