What does the word "tuned" mean to younger people?

[Scifi]

 

[vwestlife]

Once an idiom becomes part of everyday language and communication, then it doesn't really matter where the original meaning came from. The icons for "save" and "print" in computer applications still show a floppy disk and dot matrix printer, even though most people haven't used either in many years. News media still commonly refers to video footage as "videotape" even though these days it's just a file on a computer. Movies are still "film" and digital downloads are still counted as "record sales". Sound effects of Morse code (or theme music in a staccato style meant to imitate it) and mechanical teletypes are still synonymous with breaking news reports. We still have "ticker tape parades" even though it's not actual ticker tape being thrown around anymore.

The sound of a turntable stylus being dragged across a record remained the universal pop culture sound effect of something being abruptly ended or interrupted, 20 years after most people had ever used a record player. I hear Millenials who are probably too young to have ever used an audio tape recorder imitating the sound of a tape being rewound and saying "Rewind!" when they have to ask for or offer clarification of something that was just said. And now that mobile phones can play actual audio recordings as their ringtones instead of just a series of beeps or synthesized music, the almost-extinct sound of a classic dual-gong mechanical bell telephone ringer has become one of the most popular ringtones.

 

[Eric Lloyd]

Digital downloads actually are record sales. A recording of any kind is a record - a record of an event or simulation thereof.

 

[Hyperion]

"Stay tuned" - I think of that as a little more basic, and meaning 'keep watching' or 'keep listening' or both. To me it could mean that you are watching or listening like a zombie, and not paying attention exactly.

Oh, and I definitely remember TV's with tuning dials.

And people walking along with a small transistor radio seemingly glued to their ear.
And others walking along with a ghetto blaster on one shoulder, listening as loud as they dare.

 

[bimasta]

Back, quite awhile, I recall seeing a Bevis and Butthead where one said there was a time before television. The other was incredulous and after a bit, they both agreed that there was always television but just not as many channels. That was sad. It hasn't gotten any better either. The radio station I worked at had a few younger DJ's (students) who never back announced anything. When I asked why, the answer was "Everybody knows who that is" I said I don't and the reply was "You're old, you don't count" So, it's not only ignorance, It's an attitude. My take on the whole thing is the party has been going on for a long time and they missed a lot of it. The real shame of it is if they don't know something, it probably isn't worth knowing. I took a kid home one night when his car left him down and he never saw crank down windows.

I quoted it in entirety, because it describes society far beyond audio...

This is great opening paragraph Sinewaver. More...

 

[N8Nagel]

Back, quite awhile, I recall seeing a Bevis and Butthead where one said there was a time before television. The other was incredulous and after a bit, they both agreed that there was always television but just not as many channels. That was sad. It hasn't gotten any better either. The radio station I worked at had a few younger DJ's (students) who never back announced anything. When I asked why, the answer was "Everybody knows who that is" I said I don't and the reply was "You're old, you don't count" So, it's not only ignorance, It's an attitude. My take on the whole thing is the party has been going on for a long time and they missed a lot of it. The real shame of it is if they don't know something, it probably isn't worth knowing. I took a kid home one night when his car left him down and he never saw crank down windows.

Well then in my opinion, which counts exactly for what you paid for it, I'm not a big fan of those DJs. Because if they're just playing stuff that everyone knows what it is they're not doing their job, they're just being ClearChannel shills and picking tracks off the approved playlist. I want to hear stuff I don't know but is still cool.