BeatBlaster Turns Your iPad Into A 1980s Stereo System

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Do you yearn for the time when your music required a hulking great box to play it? When that music came not in convenient playlists but separated out onto various discs and mechanical cartridges (aka “tapes”)? Do you wish to relive those wonderful days of the Midi System, the Mini System and even, back in the depths of the 1970s, the Music Center?

Then you’re in luck. By applying the latest in touch-screen technology and cutting edge software design, you can now have all the inconvenience of old-school recorded music rendered with the convenience of multi-touch. Behold: The BeatBlaster.

The [BeatBlaster](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-beatblaster/id493081063?mt=8) is skeuomorphism at its finest. The app opens to a rendering of a 1980s/90s all-in-one stereo system, complete with CD slot, volume knobs, a spectrum analyzer and a row of selector switches. Swipe down (or hit the “turntable button”) and you’re taken to the record player, where you can move the tonearm and, well, not much more. You browse your iTunes collection by looking at the spines of virtual CDs (which end up playing as vinyl — go figure), and you can swipe right to bring in the speaker view, which is a view of a speaker.

It’s fun, in an old-school way, and will likely prove an “ice-breaker” at parties if you’re the kind of sad loser that has problems communicating with strangers. It even has some cute touches — the AirPlay selector is up by the headphone jack, for instance. But what it really does is remind you just how far we have come since we had to juggle plastic disks just to listen to music, and just how great apps like Spotify really are.

BeatBlaster is $3, and [available now](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-beatblaster/id493081063?mt=8).

[Thanks, Kevin!]

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