iPod 1889: An everyday scene on the Piccadilly Line

This picture of an 1889 “jukebox”, which appeared in Life Magazine isn’t particularly surprising. I’ve seen similar illustrations before. It was quite common to use tubes (based on domestic speaking tubes) to listen to phonographs before the invention of the amplifying horn. No, the thing that gets me is how much these tubes look like Apple’s trademark white earbuds. This is more iPod than jukebox and all those earbuds are an everyday sight on London’s Piccadilly line. These pioneers didn’t realise what miseries they were stoking up for innocent commuters in the 21st century.

(Via Gizmodo)