What's a Walkman? Kids confused by 'messed up' music player

One of the interview subjects in the latest 'Kids React' video is shown in this screengrab taken from YouTube. (TheFineBrothers)

What happens when you give a kid born in 2004 a cassette player?

They might think it’s a walkie-talkie or a phone. Or they might get closer and guess it’s a boom box.

But they probably won’t know it’s a personal music player from 1979 designed to play something called a cassette tape.

The latest “Kids React” video by Benny and Rafi Fine, known as the Fine Brothers, shows kids aged 5-13 attempting to identify, and then open, a portable cassette player.

“Are these like in the movies?” asks Krischelle, age 9, in the video when handed a tape to put into a black Sony Walkman.

Krischelle later declares that she is “a survivor” (she’s still too young for the 2001 Destiny’s Child song) and that she’s not going to give up trying to open it, until she does.

Samirah, age 8, correctly guesses it is a cassette player and explains how it works. She notes it won’t play music, no matter how many times you press the play button – a tactic several kids tried – until a cassette is inserted into the deck.

The kids in the video are universally disappointed they need headphones – “You need headphones just to listen to music? Do you know how messed up that is?” asks Shannon, age 9 – and mostagree it is way too much work to operate.

But one smart guy points out that actually, it might be just as much work to listen to music on an iPad.

“On the iPad, you have to go into the Internet, find Pandora, click that thing. You have to make it play, ya know?” Maxim, age 7, says in the video.

When told that a cassette tape can only hold about 30 songs, Shannon scrunches his face in anguish and says, “I’m thinking about how many tapes you would need!”

Maybe the next episode should be devoted to vinyl.

Elle, age 12, best sums up the kids’ reaction to the Walkman:“I feel like I’m Indiana Jones or something.”