Prison Tech

[@Techmoan]

INFO: This is a history video. It’s about *old* tech. Old tech from the USA. Every country and every prison in those countries have different rules from one another. Rules also change over time. The tech shown and discussed is from a variety of time periods and places. *MORE INFO IN THE VIDEO DESCRIPTION*

[@VidweII]

Didn't you know you were meant to cover every country, institution and time period ever? Tsk tsk Mat. You're slacking. /s/

[@Unknown_Ooh]

Not to mention the Maryland State Department of Corrrections allow inmates to purchase Xbox 360 consoles but in the clear case. Other states have similar products if not the same. As you said these regulations are very arbitrary varying on the institution. Just like how some jails/prisons offer nicotine vapor devices and others don't.

[@HazeyCazeyTv]

The reason for not allowing cds is because they wanted prisoners to keep using cassette Walkman’s in order for them to use the motor to tattoo themselves. Tattoos make it easier for law enforcement to identify criminals.

[@whocrusader5179]

Where can I get these?!

[@picklr3893]

Cool

[@brutalbasspro]

I dated a girl who had that tv, always thought it looked cool and I asked where she got it...when she did 3 years for meth manufacturing.

[@darksondap94]

Would still date her for the TV itself...

[@niccadoodles]

Sounds like the start of any good business venture

[@kenethmeyers3092]

Hol up

[@sinicalypse]

Damn the girl knew how to cook meth? Sheeeeit if she could cook meth dinner would be no problem at all, so that one was definitely a keeper!

[@sinicalypse]

@@kenethmeyers3092 Wait A Minute!

[@justincarawan-carawanco.pu1639]

I prefer the "clear" look. I've always liked seeing the guts of tech, as if I could see how everything worked.

[@sirprintalot]

I had a clear Playstation controller/memory card when I was younger. Was pretty cool to me as a kid.

[@nicholasluigi]

Clear Dreamcast VMU.

[@idiotsimulator8055]

@Heavy Metal Collector I had a clear 360 controller at some point, the USB was absolutely fucking knacked tho.

[@guidorussoheck2100]

i just bought a Phantom white xbox one controller, is awesome, i need a crystal dualshock 4

[@kulrigalestout]

I still have my clear Game Boy Pocket from when I was a kid. Something about seeing all of those boards and bits and bobs on the inside filled me with excitement and wonder, and took away the mystery of how it worked but replaced it with the mystery of why it worked.

[@BurtSampson]

I did 3 1/2 years in prison here in the States, I actually had both those Sony radios you show at around the 11:00 mark(and those Koss over ear headphones, lol). I liked the one with the digital tuning since I could get the exact frequency I wanted since stations were pretty hard to get and it could be a pain in the ass to actually find the station you were looking for a lot of the time. We actually even watch TV and movies with our radios in open dorm facilities since there's no way to for 240 inmates to plug their headphones into like the 16 or so TVs that are suspended from poles in the dorms. They have FM transmitters hooked up to the TVs and we all just tune in to whatever frequency they have it set to. To this day I still wear headphones to watch Netflix and everything else off my PC I have hooked up to my TV because I got so use to it while I was locked up.

[@lastname2139]

What did you do?

[@StrangerHappened]

@@kreuner11 This is only polite to ask among (former) prisoners.

[@BurtSampson]

Intimidation with a deadly weapon and criminal recklessness while armed with a deadly weapon.

[@lachlanbrown8110]

Do inmates have access to the internet? How do you find out about the outside world, newspapers?

[@boldandbrashcrafts727]

Proud of you for making it out the other side mate, not easy to do in the states

[@JerryRigEverything]

Go it. If I ever want cool clear tech, I just gotta go to prison.

[@jacobhunter9304]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@clearwashere]

holy shit

[@kalibra134]

(Got it not Go it) I don’t know why it’s bothering me!

[@nidulaperera]

Nah we can’t survive without you

[@Connie_TinuityError]

@@nidulaperera You can't, but I sure as hell can!

[@NeoRazor]

I love that Techmoan is a polite, proper British man who's into hip hop and US prison life, hahaha

[@MarcosRobertoDosSantosJF]

John Solo Hahah! Gangsta Techmoan!

[@greggv8]

ThugMoan?

[@alaslawi]

it's all about GMoan baby

[@offspringfan89]

He's more gangsta that anyone here :D

[@evarose1870]

@@offspringfan89 😉

[@Tm0g762]

"The difference is clear"... "it served time and now it tells the time". This man has a flair with language.

[@Omlet221]

Psilocybe Vibe - you obviously don’t speak it much

[@ihatetrainyards4859]

@Psilocybe Vibe >even an average Asian speaks more languages than an average European or American guy АХАХАХА no, maybe more than americans but not more than europeans, of course depends on what part of asia but for some reason i have difficulty believing that some poor rice farmer from bangladesh who can barely read and afford to buy food speaks more than 1 language.

[@ihatetrainyards4859]

​@Psilocybe Vibe Source?

[@ihatetrainyards4859]

@Psilocybe Vibe That is not a reliable source, that is about as reliable as me saying that everyone in my country can speak fluent serbo croatian, hungarian, swedish, english, italian, albanian and french at the age of 16

[@ihatetrainyards4859]

@Psilocybe Vibe Thing is, just because you speak them does not mean most people do. Also the currency i use has 3 languages printed on it, Russian, Greek and English.

[@EricSwanson1]

I did 11 years. I literally had most of the tech in this video. Very cool. I had the clear tunes radio, the rca tv, and the koss cl-20 headphones. They had stopped selling the cassette tapes and tape players when I arrived. People were using the tape players to make tattoo machines. A lot of old school dudes still had them though. They were grandfathered in. Not every electronic appliance had to be clear though, at least not in Kansas. I can remember on two occasions when they sold nice radios with black cases. They were very highly sought after, but it usually wasn't long before they were removed from the approved commissary list. Eventually, they moved over to mp3 players and flat screen tvs. Now they have tablets that have built in mp3 players. The tablets are sold by a company called jpay. The tablets don't have internet or anything like that, but they have a music and book catalog loaded onto them. You just go to a kiosk at yard, plug it in, and download the music you purchased from the catalog. One other thing, most of the rca tvs in Kansas had speakers, but they were disconnected. When the tvs came to the facility, the property officer would open up the tv and disconnect the speakers, then seal the tv with a tamper seal so the officers could tell if an inmate had opened the tv. We used to bend open a paperclip and snake it into the side vents of the tv and connect the speaker wire with it. Very hard to do, but if you have years to do it .... I did roughly the same thing with my clear tunes radio, but essentially I made an aux plug for my mp3 player. One of the other cool pieces of tech I had, actually still have, is my old type writer. For about $300, you could buy a clear typewriter to do legal work or college stuff on. The thing is huge, weighs a ton, and is crazy loud. I might make a video with that typewriter. I really like that typewriter. Damn, this video has me all nostalgic. Thanks a bunch. Great video.

[@Nochift138]

He did 11 years

[@EricSwanson1]

@Jyles Prescott I took a pedophile out in the woods and shot him.

[@EricSwanson1]

@John Joe no. I grew up in prison. My best friends are in prison. The tech is a part of that environment and kinda cool.

[@MSDarkspyro]

Im intrested now

[@EricSwanson1]

@John Joe there were a lot of fights, some crazy stuff, some stupid stuff, some funny stuff. When I was in, I missed my family. Now that I'm out, I miss the stupid stuff. In the joint, all your friends get together and beat you up on your birthday. It's their way of making sure you're not getting weak. The fun part is, you never know when it's coming. Your buddies just jump out of nowhere and all hell breaks loose. It's a lot of fun. I miss stupid stuff like that.

[@kupigusja9430]

I always liked the idea of transparent plastic. I would like all plastic around me to be transparent, this is so cool and useful

[@wontricpony410]

It’s a good idea… until it yellows

[@IceNineThrills]

@@wontricpony410 True, you will just have to make sure there is a way to clean it without screwing up the electronic components.

[@rickc-137___]

@@wontricpony410 yellowing happens more to smokers.

[@Garf_malarf]

@@wontricpony410 if it’s yellow let it mellow if it’s brown flush it down

[@busterscrugs]

@@IceNineThrills cleaning doesn't fix yellowing, it's a chemical reaction within the plastic. there's ways to fix it (aka retrobrite) but it's still a pain to deal with.

[@djsangre]

This is a great video and reminds me of a particular event in my life that I remember with some affection. During the late 90s first 2000s I was a DJ at a local radio station. In my show we received sms and phone calls where people could interact. We had a small but very close community. One day, I received a text from one of them telling me something like: "Thank you for the show, it really helped me to feel part of a community. Unfortunately I won't listen to it anymore since next week because I finally go back home after my time in jail". That guy was in a jail very far from his hometown. Since then I never thought my show could have been listened by inmates (only in that moment I realized that there were a very large jail not so far from our small town). I've been struck by many emotions and thanked the guy wishing him the best for his new future. Before that moment, doing a radio show for me was just about music, but since then it became more about people. Thank you again for this video and your very interesting channel.

[@chucklebutt4470]

That's a good story :)

[@exidy-yt]

That is a fucking GREAT story, it gets me right in the feels. Thank you for sharing it with us, and I hope you share it elsewhere too. Good stuff.

[@CYB3RS3CKS]

In prison music is a way to connect to the current world. It also takes you out of the place and to a better time. I sang and had books of song lyrics from blues to country to Adele. Still am called Radio by people.

[@jeffknonig8743]

Wholesome

[@caidenkesler3945]

Stellvia Hoenheim ooh I don’t think he cares

[@ulibarri1350]

I worked as a studio photographer in the early 2000s. One of our main clients was a prison commissary catalog. I spent many hours shooting clear walkmans, TVs, and tins of oysters (yuck!). Great video. Thanks!

[@gamemeister27]

I buy tins of smoked oysters. They're pretty good

[@fixiegod]

sounds like a very interesting job experience!!

[@Richardincancale]

2:20 Tuna tin lids are sharp as a scalpel. I almost cut my thumb off in 1985 and still have the scar to this day! No tuna, just tunes!!!

[@Techmoan]

I had a similar experience.

[@anulonilatac]

Not any more, at least here in Spain. They don't have sharp edges. I also had several cuts while opening them in the past but they are harmless nowadays.

[@fordtechchris]

The Florida Man who was arrested for sending bombs to various democrats in the US (MAGA Bomber) said he used to wear tuna can lids on his feet when he was a male strip dancer. He said he would use them to cut the other dancers if they were getting more tips than him. Ironically he will be enjoying music on clear cassette tapes for the next 20 years.

[@maeveelizabeth9739]

honestly, this clear tech reminds me of the old "crystal" shell gameboy colors and N64 models. I never really thought about them being in prisons

[@AutPen38]

The objects remind me of the iMac, an opaque device regarded as a design classic by hipsters.

[@user95395]

oh yeah, i had a pink clear one

[@texanology]

​@@AutPen38 "It's IN the computer??"

[@hftl412]

I have an inmate in my family... Those websites all went defunct in 2019 because at the start of 2019, corrections institutions across the nation switched to tablets for EVERYTHING. You do your phone calls on tablets. You get books to read on tablets. You get your music and television on tablets. You order your commissary order on tablets. Your mail gets scanned, and displays on the tablet. You need to see medical? Put a request in on the tablet. Need to speak to your lawyer? Chat with them on the tablet. You can charge by the minute on tablets, and they double as cameras + listening devices in every cell, plus, they are basically tamper-proof, if you try to pry one open, the digitizer stops working, and you're busted. You can't get a book in prison after 2019 - much less these devices.

[@MrGoatflakes]

How in hell is it legal to force prisoners to talk to their lawyers on a frigging government provided listening device?

[@joeyknight8272]

@@MrGoatflakes because it's government and phones aren't much better

[@TrentTheCreator]

Yeah that wire tapping feature is illegal AF.Lawyers need to have privacy with thier clients and this completely violates that right.

[@joeyknight8272]

@@TrentTheCreator you don't know how prison phones work????

[@sgtcreasegrease]

Jesus fucking christ, man. Gotta love the U.S. prison system

[@CDRaff]

I miss clear tech; there was a point in the 90s when nearly everything I owned was clear. I can still remember getting my first clear phone from one of those fund raiser prize catalogues that were popular at the time.

[@givolettorulez]

When I opened my bank accout I got a nice walkman style AM/FM radio that had a transparent case. Unfortunately i lost it but was working nicely.

[@victortitov1740]

clear tech is underrated. I once walked into a store, and saw a clear washing machine. I immediately asked if I can buy it, but they said it was for exhibition, not for sale =((( JerryRigEverything approves.

[@Oddman1980]

I remember there being a "clear" fad in the early 1990's - not just phones and stuff, but soft drinks (Crystal pepsi!) dish soap, and in one odd case, Aamco premium gasoline was "clear", even though almost nobody would ever see it.

[@gizmonicman9879]

Always wanted a pair of the clear Bose 901s used as sales props. They sounded even worse than the regular 901s but they looked so cool..

[@Lucien86]

For a short while I had what has to be one of the worst clear products ever.. A transparent Orange phone from Orange. The thing was huge and ugly but was very cheap. It somehow seemed to get a lot bigger and uglier though after I had brought it. :D

[@jimbo573]

Can prison PlayStations be jailbroken?

[@testosteroneinc.3800]

😏

[@kashashk]

Goteem!

[@Talia.777]

Clever 😉😂

[@kFY514]

Fun fact: Here in Poland where I live, the prison regulations are not as strict as in the US, inmates are allowed to have almost unmodified retail game consoles - but they are not allowed to have WiFi. That's why the Xbox 360 is basically the most recent console you may see in a Polish prison, because that's the last one that you can easily remove the WiFi module from. If you happen to speak Polish, there is an interesting video about that here, search for "W jakie gry nie zagrasz, gdy trafisz do więzienia". And I also heard that prison gamepads usually have no vibration motors in them, as apparently inmates often scavenge them for makeshift tattooing machines.

[@natevirtual]

@@kFY514 just reading your comment as you posted it just "16 seconds ago" lol

[@umarabdullah5510]

There was something beautiful and satisfying about buying a cassette, unwrapping it, and opening the jacket then popping it in and listening to both sides.

[@watchingworm]

Nintendo's smart. First make a prison Gameboy, then release it as a feature to the general public!

[@DziugasTrollfacas]

Wait for a fucking second. Was that the reason for the existence of the play it loud clear dmg?

[@pedrovieira8602]

I wonder if the clear gameboy was allowed.

[@satanderteufel6563]

I always thought the clear Game Boy looked like shit, but now i know why it exists in the first place.

[@AltimaNEO]

Don't forget prison N64

[@TheJadeFist]

@@AltimaNEO And if you got all your stars stolen in Mario Party, you could just choke the guy with the controller's cord.

[@jamesgrimwood1285]

“Busy inmates are well behaved inmates”. Sounds like something I read on my teacher training, but with some words replaced.

[@konoha1993]

Well it's sort of what we learned in my teacher training, with some replaced word as

[@nejatolgunturk3702]

School is some sort of prison to me.

[@kirgan1000]

@Jake Sangria www.scoopwhoop.com/most-luxurious-prisons-in-the-world/ it look like it work for the more luxurious one, they have a feeling of lavish student accommodation. Notice all the black electronic gagets....

[@kruger2878]

@@nejatolgunturk3702 well schools were actually built on the prison system. I learned that years ago in Criminal Justice in HS

[@sodadrinker89]

@@br6768 Bread and Circuses.

[@JustinWillisDevil240Z]

when I was growing up in the 90s everything was clear. but like clear purple.

[@suppengroove]

i'm still happy that third party manufacturers use clear plastic for joycon shells and stuff. looks gorgeous

[@monstersociety3360]

Yeah, there were definitely a few N64's like that. So, if Action 52 for the NES wasn't meant for prisons, then why was THAT thing's cartridge clear? XD

[@iLlegal_iBex]

Atomic purple n64 gang

[@dustytheloneranger]

Everyone coveted that clear phone. Clear gameboy was cool, too

[@katcoe1079]

my sister had a clear purple Gameboy advance haha and I had a clear Gameboy. I also had a clear orange phone lol

[@jasontodd1141]

Something interesting is that here in Denton county jail in Texas, my brother now has an android type of tablet with classes to take in astronomy, calculus, English, law and 12 different languages. We also have a video call thing we get to do with him. Never seen these kind of clear techs!

[@mattwatson]

Same in England, HMP Durham we had tablets and sandisk MP3's. They caused loads of fights and robberies though so they were always getting taken away.

[@jasontodd1141]

@@mattwatson oh shoot really? That would make since if some people didn’t have them lol. My brother told me they added Popcornflix to the apps and it has a ton of c tier movies that are funny because of how bad they are. But he said it’s got some good documentaries. Aye thanks for sharing man!

[@zachsteiner]

Woah didn’t expect to see someone mention Denton County. I live in Denton currently.

[@ninjabuddy1]

"Busy inmates are well behaved inmates" sounds like a pretty dystopian catchphrase for your company.

[@badgerlordpatrick6493]

Hardly. "idle minds are the devil's playground" is an old and venerable saying. The truly dystopian thing is that most of us prefer staying inside with our technology, as if we were prisoners.

[@martinsleis3852]

󠛡󠛡󠛡

[@FFKonoko]

@@badgerlordpatrick6493 the most commen version is idle hands are the devil's workshop, with the original being the Latin version of "always engage in activity so that the devil will find you busy" but good job actually making it slightly more dystopian. But yes, the Canterbury tales are pretty venerable, and they are what popularised the saying. It is true that people being bored will tend to make their own entertainment, but that applies equally to inmates getting troublesome and stir crazy as it does to keeping people from getting the spare time and energy to consider unions or revolution. And you definitely shouldn't be able to argue that it's very on brand for some companies to encourage people to run themselves into the ground via death march. But sure, complain about people staying inside and using technology, on this video hosting website that people from all over the world are using to keep busy while they are stuck indoors. :P

[@evanhenderson9461]

@@FFKonoko This guy gets it. The prison system here is disgusting. To think that people with free will watching KZbin at home are "the real prisoners" *scary music* is an insanely pseudo intellectual thing to say. Been watching way too much black mirror.

[@Rob_Fordd]

@@badgerlordpatrick6493 Nah, the dystopian thing is calling ourselves the land of the free despite having the most prisoners per capita of any coutry by far.

[@zj_gaming9800]

For a while, prisons allowed CDs. Now, however, most have moved on to MP3 players. The reason for this is that inmates were removing the motors from the CD players to make tattoo equipment. As MP3 players have no motors, that negated that problem.

[@casedistorted]

Of course wouldn’t want prisoners to make a living doing tattoos which is a transferable skill for when they get out.

[@muni5450]

@@casedistorted prison tattoos are fought on many basic sound principles. Firstly they are used for the sake of gangs which both increases violence and segregation in prisons and reduces rehabilitation outside of prison. Second, tattoos require quite intense disinfection on machinery and on skin after exposure, none of these are things prisoners are effective at doing making it so tattoos are vectors for serious diseases like hepatitis. There’s little benefit to allowing tattoos in prisons

[@dnationapocalypse]

Not to mention that they can break the CDs and use them as weapons

[@gabrielv.4358]

Wow!

[@dnationapocalypse]

@@casedistorted Right 😒

[@kartwood]

Until recently, I ran an electronics repair shop. Every so often we would be asked to modify TVs and Boom Boxes to make them legal for use in the Prison system.

[@hamjudo]

Obviously a more enlightened prison, if they allowed items from unofficial sources. As another commenter pointed out, they had to pay $20 for a $1 radio.

[@TheBigMclargehuge]

@@hamjudo I'm all for private industry and keeping government out of industry but Prison is one thing that should not be left to a for-profit. Now we got a multi billion dollar industry lobbying for draconian laws and penalties and working inmates like slaves for a buck an hour. How that's legal is beyond me.

[@princeplotena]

Aw, did your shop shut down because of COVID-19? I hope you're doing well...

[@Linkale_]

@@princeplotena I don't think he meant that. Also, I don't know how the thing is in the UK or USA, but here in spain electronic shops are one of the few businesses that are allowed to open theses days.

[@glidershower]

@@TheBigMclargehuge For profit prisons only account for less than 9% of prisoners in the U.S., and considering they tend to be more lax than federal prisons, I don't see what do you mean by "worked like slaves for a buck". Working what? I don't agree with the profit model entirely, but I can't empathize with prisoners too much either. Some are ok, but most people in jail are massive assholes that do deserve to be there.

[@2yoyoyo1Unplugged]

I think clear tech is cooler honestly. It’s really neat to see the machinery all assembled and in its proper place while you use a device. It’s particularly neat with stuff like cassette players and cassettes, where you can see the parts moving inside when you mess with the switches. You can really get a sense for _how_ it functions on a mechanical level.

[@Enderman-uu5oq]

When I saw the orange tape in the thumbnail I was gonna say “So prisoners can only listen to Kanye?” But then I found out was just legit a Kanye album.

[@iododendron3416]

They can choose between solitary confinement and listening to Kanye West. Most prisoners choose solitary confinement.

[@flootz6719]

@@iododendron3416 idk man yeezus was pretty good

[@iododendron3416]

@@flootz6719 not my cup of brewed leef beverage.

[@Jack-vb4qy]

@@iododendron3416 guarantee you haven't actually listened to any of kanye's music. not trying to come after you bro but just because people don't like him doesn't mean you cant form your own opinion through your own experiences (only assuming you haven't done that because of the fact that most people just see him through the lens of major news outlets and therefore project those pre-conceived notions onto his music)

[@eduardosheldon6618]

@@iododendron3416 this is a dumb comment

[@NoobNoobNews]

One day the prison system will have their own MMORPG servers, probably.

[@CativaCookie]

Thats not a bad idea at all!

[@Architector_4]

Isn't there some US state, or country, that had people arrested for cheating in videogames?

[@sed8181]

@@Architector_4 Quick google search points to south korea but seems to be specifically for hacking. Obviously you aren't going to get prison for exploiting bugs or glitches. Or things like x-raying in minecraft. I'm sure things like DDOS attacks, trying to get personal information are likely the target and stealing accounts are what are targeted. Here is an article with an example of someone who went to prison for hacking in overwatch. techcrunch.com/2018/06/25/overwatch-hacker-seoul-jail-time/ . It is important to note he made a lot of money by cheating. Essentially it is a scam.

[@Architector_4]

@@sed8181 No, I've remember hearing people got jailed specifically for just using a cheat. Or dunno, maybe I've read dud news lol

[@sed8181]

@@Architector_4 I've never heard of it in the US. Also jail and prison are different. You go to jail when you are arrested. Once you have been convicted in court, you go to prison. You could be innocent and still go to jail.

[@corbinlarsen6421]

“Horrible terrible sounding clear headphones” Schools in the US: I’ll take your entire stock

[@MemeReviewer]

Yes

[@lenaaasss]

Yes

[@arcadecarpet631]

Yes

[@Andrewtatesbiggestfan]

Yes

[@rockcortez5606]

Yes

[@0x13horizon4]

I have my own ClearTech cassette player from Urban Outfitters like shown in this video. It comes with clear earphones as well it’s pretty cool. Had no idea this is essentially what they had in prisons

[@Adam_Dot_Com]

hah, "Parental Advisory"......on a cassette for prisons, mhm okay

[@TinyTonyGOD]

Adam Bartlett that’s the US prison system for you

[@Real_Retrophilia]

Bodies being ripped apart is not a problem, but try to utter the word cunt in the US.....

[@espenfarstad1697]

@@Real_Retrophilia It is great fun!

[@ilovefunnyamv2nd]

We take the impressionable minds of our listeners seriously, won't want to teach them any naughty words

[@nslouka90]

There are kids and teens that go to prison and juvie

[@smartroadbiker]

can't have a CD, can have a TV with large glass parts, massive plastic sections and a really high voltage generator......

[@thomasvlaskampiii6850]

That thing cost like $100 and it was your only window to the outside world. Why would you intentionally destroy it?

[@dodgydruid]

Yeah the mains capacitor if zapped with the right sort of wrong polarity would make a lovely bang and then snowfall of lovely burning electrolyte, we used to blow them up down the scrapyard I worked at, just fed the wrong way round a truck battery into 'em and they were pretty cool mini explosives :D

[@quetzalcueyat]

@@dodgydruid FBI

[@FiXato]

It's probably easier to spot when that gets destroyed to be used as a weapon, rather than one of many (relatively) small CDs. :) Also, I bet the TVs would be bolted into place, and it'd be difficult to open up without the right tools.

[@und4287]

@@FiXato they use tamperproof screws

[@DiZUnbound]

My late grandfather had a clear TV that my mom was holding onto. I never knew why it was clear, but he indeed was in prison, so it all sorta makes sense now.

[@izperehoda]

Did he manage to take a TV from prison? What a chad

[@ArmedSpaghet]

@@izperehoda it was technically his own property. He bought it. So obviously they could take it home.

[@izperehoda]

@@ArmedSpaghet yeah forgot about that. Still pretty cool

[@mjh5437]

So you come from a long line of crims lol

[@AutPen38]

You can see this as a success story. A man goes to prison, but is well behaved. Saves his pennies and buys a cheap TV from the prison shop. Leaves prison as a rehabilitated person and everyone lives happily ever after. Don't forget that a large proportion of people in Australia are descended from convicts. It's nothing to be ashamed of. People can improve their lives after making a bad decision or two.

[@bellamorts]

I have always found clear eletronic devices so aesthetically pleasing, crazy to know a bit of their backstory - so interesting! thank you so much

[@TheTomimt]

This was genuinely interesting. I hadn't even thought that the American prison system demands people to use screwless, see-through electronics.

[@andymitchell368]

TheTomimt it’s the same in the uk

[@TheTomimt]

@camjamsdad here in Finland I'd be using pretty much standard tech.

[@lukasperuzovic1429]

There a few devices that can use screws, but you have to show the prison system that sonic/thermal welds are sufficient in the construction, like the TVs.

[@StukaSteven]

@@TheTomimt thats because Fins are passive pussies who dont resist their governemnt over stepping there boundaries

[@solardile7143]

ZepTepi yeah let’s glorify the shitty behavior that gets people in prison in the first place! Yay violence and intolerance!

[@shiva_MMIV]

A little more than ten years ago I went to a prision in Spain as a computer technician to repair, well, a computer, and they were very special too: a single unit including keyboard and touchscreen instead of mouse (remember, this was before the "touch revolution"), the idea was not to have any detachable parts, and the casing was solid metal, very sturdy and heavy. They were also very cramped inside and a pain in the ass to work with (at least the screens were flat panels), and as far as I know they were for staff use, not for the inmates. Similar units were used in public libraries, they were more conventional, with normal mouse and keyboards, but the same sturdy metal cases (wich says something about the expected use and abuse from the users 😁).

[@Nolroa]

I have seen the same kind of metallic “Institutional” metallic keyboards with a mouse included. But they were used in shopping malls for info stations until they changed them for touch screens.

[@shiva_MMIV]

@@Nolroa Yeah, I remember those too.

[@moconnell663]

@@Nolroa they had exactly the same look and feel as the keypad on a pay phone.

[@thecommenter578]

Imagine a guy using a mouse cable to choke another inmate. I see why they hadn't mice there

[@tnbspotter5360]

You never know what those ruffians at the library are capable of.

[@Ram-2112]

My friend who was in maximum security last year had to have cassettes still. Once he got to a lower level of risk he was able to get cds

[@TheBigMclargehuge]

I bet a CD makes a fine shank. Guys who dress normal probably do too.

[@DarkAvatar1313]

@@TheBigMclargehuge No but you can scrape an edge on a side of a shard (by rubbing it on concrete) and then tie/tape it to a stick like object such as a toothbrush and make something that can slice skin. Stabbing with it would just break it.

[@brockturner3112]

@Nigel Cam 🤣🤣

[@50centgotshot9times]

Mate I still use cassettes in my 2006 Toyota Camry because the CD player is broke

[@TheBigMclargehuge]

@@DarkAvatar1313 that's what I was thinking you can break it into pieces and get a nice point and tape it to something. A cross dresser could probably do it too

[@hotaru8309]

I miss clear electronics. I wasn't in prison, I just enjoyed the short lived fad that let us view conponents and gave a sense of seeing how thing worked or, at least, how they were built. I know the light isn't good for some components, but I'd still enjoy carrying my technology in its tinted clear housing with its clear accessories.

[@joseislanio8910]

Hotaru I had two transparent green PS1 joysticks that I really enjoyed

[@Ray-mw1fx]

I wish everything was almost transparent for at least 12 hours... And I mean everything.

[@thekornwulf]

Yeah, I adored my old GBC with the clear cases.

[@loxymods]

@@Ray-mw1fx no not my clothes lol

[@NeedyBoBeedy]

i have two transparent xbox 360 controllers :)

[@patavinity1262]

I like how there's a fucking "Parental Advisory" sticker on a cassette album intended for prisons.

[@KaneinEncanto]

I mean, there are prisons for juveniles, too...

[@MinutemanOutdoors]

I think that one he got it at a music shop (or at least it came from a music shop) as one of those limited release deals he mentioned.

[@vladv5126]

Prisoners have parents too and are basically overgrown children

[@damnoldguy]

I did time in Oregon, they would only sell edited CDs. Seriously

[@AnonCooler]

80yo dad 40yo son

[@CSpidah]

He pulled out the yeezus tape💽

[@predocon4650]

LMAOOO

[@pidza_hub7532]

L

[@xenoslyce1781]

😭💀

[@fetchstixRHD]

I was actually surprised that the cassette was created specifically for prisons, rather than just being the tape version of the album cover/CD version.

[@joshuaabbott4824]

It wasn't made for prison use. It was just made like that. Look at the album for it.

[@drygnfyre]

On a strictly aesthetic note, a lot of this clear tech looks really cool. I'd buy consumer versions of them.

[@bobholt5081]

I honestly had no idea this stuff existed. Makes sense though. Very interesting episode, Mat, but then I like all your posts.

[@paulrippcord506]

Bob Holt EBay is filled with them. First noticed it three years ago when I was hunting for a used Sony Trinitron.

[@exodus2142]

@Jake Sangria My dad still has his clear tv , they let you keep it because they make you pay for it so it's yours, I remember watching videos on it as a kid, even then I knew where it came from.

[@bayareanewman1566]

If you ever watch any of those real life prison type shows they feature tech like this in the prison cells. The TV’s are the most obvious examples.

[@DeadBeatHotShot]

How did this guy comment 1 day ago when the video is 3 hours old?

[@bobholt5081]

@@DeadBeatHotShot I'm a Patreon so we see them a little ahead of everyone else.

[@w.a.seaver4335]

I collect typewriters, and only one of them is electronic: a clear-case Swintec with a property label from a Wisconsin prison. I found it at a thrift store.

[@hectorcorona9536]

I had a friend that did 4 years in the US. He always had his radio hanging in his neck with a handmade leather case. Never occurred to me that the fact it was clear was for this exact reason.

[@angrycatowner]

the other thing that your friend did not tell you was the fact that the leather case was made from the severed foreskins of snitches and stool pidgeons.

[@hectorcorona9536]

@@angrycatowner I'm pretty sure that was cow leather from the craft workshop, but they put a double bottom so he could hide stuff inside

[@Ismalith]

US Prisons: "We do not allow CDs because they could be used as weapons" German Prisons: "Of course our inmate kitchen has a full set of meat knifes for the inmates, how else would they eat."

[@Ordoabchao-x9k]

Civilization vs America

[@Ordoabchao-x9k]

@@lopanreturns7085 nah too thin.

[@jcg7719]

@@Ordoabchao-x9k hate to be the guy advocating for cassete tape strangulation, but if you fold the tape on itself making many strands and twist them together it could become as strong as a rope.

[@oldveryveryoldmanfromthe1900s]

@@jcg7719 you would need like a 2 hour cassette for that

[@HustlerHorstRuediger]

@@oldveryveryoldmanfromthe1900s 30 mins of tape can easily be well above 70 m Edit: it's actually 85 - 90 m (up to 295 ft)

[@adamnalina360]

I really sympathize with the families that had to deal with the rather arbitrary rules for getting media to inmates. I worked at an independent record store in the 90's in Arizona. We had a binder for most of the prisons and jails in the state with their various procedures (out of state wasn't recommended, but we'd guess if people insisted). As I remember cassettes didn't have to be clear, but they did have to be factory sealed. We sold used media as well, but that was right out. We did the shipping as well. Even with following all the procedures, it was super common for the package to never reach the inmate. I always told people that we couldn't guarantee that what they sent would get to the person they were sending it to. It's like it went into some kind of black box and sometimes it came out the end and other times it didn't, but you never knew why. I'm sure some of it inadvertently violated some rule, but it seemed more like staff were just taking things. My wife worked at Barnes and Noble, and she told me about a couple that kept trying to send the same Harley Davidson coffee table book to their son. After the 3rd or 4th time she convinced them to stop trying, but they'd already wasted over $100.

[@luissantiago5163]

That sounds like hell for the families. I'm sure if the items were not being stolen they were being thrown away as some form of contraband

[@vylbird8014]

Somewhere, a former prison guard has four copies of a Harley Davidson coffee table book on their shelf. People like to see prisoners made to suffer - it appeases that human impulse towards sadism that we like to pretend is a sense of justice. If we cheer for inflicting pain and misery on 'bad people,' that proves we are good people

[@Porygonal64]

Welcome to America. Your human rights are invalidated as soon as someone else says so.

[@glidershower]

@@Porygonal64 Human rights? Gurl, the people that need to observe human rights the most are the least likely to do so, and that ain't the U.S. in a far shot, even with all of its flaws taken into account. Don't peddle emotions as facts. _Try a week in mexican jail. That'll cure your whistle's tune about who grants a more humanitarian treatment._

[@TheRyujinLP]

@@Porygonal64 Welcome to the world were America is half-way decent compared to most of it. Sorry man, but go see what prison is like in Russia, or most South American countries or even better, China before you complain. Also if you commit a crime, then you kinda forgo your rights. Now you cane make that there are too many victimless crimes that can land you in jail and and I would agree with you but once again, this isn't just an issue in America. While not perfect, the good ol USA is a better place to live then most other countries.

[@DonDiesel885]

Hey Techmoan, i'm not proud to say but as of last year they still had radio/cassette walkmen in the american justice system... i'll tell you what brother there was quite a few tapes floating around in there, off the top of my head the most sought after was some very old releases of "DMX - It's dark and hell is hot" along with "Guns N Roses - Lies" there was a old cassette binder with at least 50 or so tapes you could rent out of the library. Also im surprised you didnt mention how the walkmen were also made into very good Tattoo Guns, you would use the fast forward along with a rigged up syringe tip and the inmate made some pretty incredible tattoos for the situation and what gear they had to make it happan.

[@ericbazinga]

I kinda wanna see some of those prison tattoos now

[@doordieace5high]

ericbazinga A tattoo artist I used to go to had told me that if it’s a person who knows what they’re doing, it doesn’t really matter what materials they use as long as it’s actually stuff you can do a tattoo with. I asked him after seeing someone who said theirs were done with some kind of ink and a guitar string.

[@pquijal]

A common setup that I saw would use the wire from a bread tie which was guided by a ball point pen cartridge tube and a CD player motor stolen from a library CD player. I had to repair one for a guy when his wires had come undone and he didn't understand electricity and he just twisted them all together...lol

[@pquijal]

@@ericbazinga Because of the the simplicity of the gun, a distinguishing feature of prison tattoo work is that it's always single needle, so they can be very detailed if the artist is actually good.

[@user2144]

Nicholas G What were you in for? Piracy? 😉

[@andrewdubya1380]

I used to have a family friend who spent 3 years in prison relatively recently (2012-2015) and he described being issued a combination payphone/mp3 player and (extremely limited) internet browser. He would call relentlessly asking for more money to buy more music for the player, in fact he called so much that his girlfriend (who framed him) eventually gave each member of our family $40 cash to say "thank you" for putting up with him.

[@trulyUnAssuming]

Wtf? The casual "who framed him" ...

[@andrewdubya1380]

@@trulyUnAssuming Not relevant to the story. If you want the details, She was into meth. He wasn`t. She wanted custody of the kids. He had it. She planted meth in his jacket before going out for a night on the town before calling the cops and tipping them off. He was arrested New Years eve 2012 in my driveway.

[@thedailydude2]

Andrew Dubya yikes man. Sorry to hear that happened.

[@portablerefrigerator4902]

@@andrewdubya1380 has she been raped to death yet

[@zaktripper4908]

Indeed, a very important therapy for those incarcerated. I served those same years in prison for extracting DMT from tree bark, and my (jpay player) ended up with $800. of jp-3's (mp-3's) equaling 205 songs, thanks to my friends & family. ~ Props!

[@randominternetbro6562]

I've always thought prison electronics were pretty neat! Not only do they have history, but you can see the circuitry inside!

[@fudd666]

In Australia the TV's were in a cement enclosure in the top corner of the room with a thick perspex front. There was no way to actually access the physical set at all. They didn't bother with clear TV's, they just used regular TV's as far as i can tell. The radio was part of the intercom panel on the wall, which was a stainless flat panel with buttons on it. It seems like they thought ours out better, not hugely surprising, our whole country was originally a prison, lol

[@J4xn]

We have clear tvs like in this video in MAP and Ravenhall in Melbourne, unless you’re in the hole then it’s as you describe. Edit: we had clear flatscreen tvs, not crt like the vid

[@em84c]

People I know who went to jail say they use TVs to light cigarettes . I don't know how. Prisoners sure are resourceful!

[@djxeroic1436]

A prison in the way Escape From New York was a prison

[@erinmccreery9781]

It depends on what year the prison was built. Our complex has two buildings. One built in the 1970s and another in the 1990s. They are very different from eachother and are totally dofferent from the new prison built in 2010 over 100 miles away were they have tablets built into the walls.

[@ArchieBl3h]

Yeah, but in America, we found a way to make each inmate PAY for tv and radio!!!

[@richardpatrick32123]

I work in a prison in the UK and they have the clear flatscreen TVs. Most other electronics in cells are no longer clear, though! Must be a throwback to when everything had to be clear! Great video as always!

[@boldandbrashcrafts727]

I guess things are a lot more strict over in the US

[@tylerjackson4168]

In Georgia our radios and cd players were regular ones not clear. Family or friends could bring it in an unopened package. Now they allow mp3 players. This was many years ago.

[@YouTubeSupportTeams]

i've seen uk prisons on the inside from whatsapp videos. place is butlins for them. not even funny. phones, electronics, drugs, porn, whatever they want. a failure of a prison system. many have it better on the inside than the outside so hardly a deterrent. sort it out

[@CODMarioWarfare]

@@KZbinSupportTeams Harsh prisons don't actually deter jack shit. It's been proven time and time again. It's just cruelty for the sake of cruelty.

[@petersmith9530]

@@KZbinSupportTeams Oh give it a rest .They're IN PRISON.Often locked in a small room with one and often two others for 23 hours out of 24.Apart from the confinement and lack of freedom , prisons are extremely dangerous.Not a holiday camp.

[@KallyNui]

Interesting that they allowed CRTs considering now dangerous they are when opened.

[@ThreeEyedFish]

I recently had to gut one. The sheer amount of "do not touch these with an 11 foot pole" posts were amazing. Luckily I took it apart without any problem.

[@AureliusR]

@@ThreeEyedFish They're only dangerous when powered.

[@ThreeEyedFish]

@@AureliusR yeah, but there is definitely a fair amount of wives tales to make someone paranoid while prepping to gut it.

[@tand0r]

@@AureliusR As far as I know they have really big capacitors inside which can potentially store enough energy to kill you even after you unplug them.

[@AureliusR]

@@tand0r That's very unlikely, they have bleeder resistors across them. You'd have to unplug it from the wall and then touch it within like a minute or two to get a zap.

[@Dillinger86]

11:09 When I was federal prison, we could buy see through radios with headphones, we could tune into any TV that was broadcasting in the TV room, the TV's were fitted with transmitters, so anyone could watch whatever was on without having to turn up the volume on the TV's.

[@simplyalonso]

what were you in for?

[@Dillinger86]

@@simplyalonso Hacking into something that I wasn't supposed to.

[@Colddirector]

All of these just look like they're from the early 2000s lol. All thats missing is the funky colour variations.

[@jacobnemeth7634]

This is weirdly aesthetically pleasing. I will now search eBay

[@turbomustang84]

The biggest compliment I can give you is . Not only have I watch everything you've put out for year's but I also want you to do well . Thanks for the years of enjoyment

[@limesebastian]

I had the doubtful pleasure of staying at a Danish prison for 10 months back in 2017, and I also met this transparent technology. The flat screen TV was transparent, so was the remote. But instead of a cassette, I could listen to CDs via the TV which unfortunately didn't do Beethoven and Liszt much justice. Interesting to see the tablet for inmates. I'll definitely look into that - if it's a thing in Danish prisons now. Could be used to handle certain situations.

[@Army_of_One_]

I've seen a few of these clear cassettes on discogs - Big L's the Big Picutre, Jay-Z's American Gangster, the Yeezus tape shown here etc. Glad to see a video mate about them because its so interesting!

[@RobynReanimates]

*designed to look unimpressive* "This would make a great collector's item"

[@amfram]

I’d imagine they’re only impressive outside the prison system solely because they are made for prison.

[@JNCressey]

@@amfram, nope, they're also impressive because you can see the components inside. [see windowed RGB gaming pc cases]

[@NateTheProtestant]

The US: We have so many people in prison that we release music formats specifically for prison.

[@sudonim7552]

The US has the highest prisoner per capita in the world. This is caused in part by the privatization of prisons in America. Prisons operate on a for-profit basis in the US, and the companies that run them definitely lobby the government to increase the amount of people they send to prison. Hell, some places have prisoner quotas that must be fulfilled.

[@DFX2KX]

@@sudonim7552 Your not wrong, far from it in fact. But ultimately. some folks *are* going to have to spend some time in there unless you're part of my school of harsh justice. Keeping people entertained keeps them from going completely insane, so we'd still have a market for things like this, even if that market was much smaller.

[@cocainecowboy_]

Well cassettes have existed for years

[@pravda9646]

@rustybuttpate imagine being this much of a bootlicker

[@John-X]

I wish minorities didn't commit so many crimes.

[@PlancoandChill]

My friend Bill is an inmate. He has a tablet with email and mp3 music. They buy song files and download them at a security check point. They have to doc with them to ensure the device is not hacked and to download or upload emails. Also to clarify ( I explained this video to Bill) Skullcandy clear headphones are the ones of choice because they dont break as easy as other models.

[@jacob9538]

Wow email, really? I never went to prison (only jail, which is stricter in a lot of ways, especially when it comes to the gadgets you can have). Being able to email people would've made the time go by much faster.

[@Whyareusernamesathing]

I actually have a prison version of that Yeezus cassette by Kanye West. It's the same, just without the red / orange tape seal thing

[@Whyareusernamesathing]

Ben's haha..?

[@jackdaniel1362]

Fantastic album.

[@Tootdaddy17]

Probably worth a lot!

[@Whyareusernamesathing]

Tootdaddy17 I got mine from a friend that well... Went to prison lol It's going for about $90 new on Discogs.

[@YoungBlaze]

What put you in jail?

[@dealerovski82]

3:49 another fact about that Kanye West album cassette release is that he has a cousin in his similar age in prison that he visits some times.

[@cumfastdieyoung]

Is it the same one that he refers to in TLOP, the one that stole his laptop?

[@dealerovski82]

@@cumfastdieyoung No that was a different cousin.

[@southjerseysound7340]

Yeah he's got a double life sentence from when he was 17

[@doctorweile]

Dr. Magneto just called. He asked to get back his cassette recorder and tapes.

[@jhuanbrown3455]

That cassette on the left. Paris: The Devil Made Me Do It. Great album , great lyricist. Noice!👌

[@psychoboy303]

A few things to note as an ex prisoner. We have clear flatscreens in the pen now, and they had to recall a bunch of the tablets, because we found out a way to hack them and get online with them. And if the place you're in is private, then sometimes in the incentive (good boy) pod they will have legit game systems yall can share but there's just no online play and that is usually the exception not the rule, obviously.

[@MrDuncl]

You missed a second reason cassettes survived which you have covered in a previous video: Talking books. One of the UK cassette duplicators said that for years they were only thing that kept them in business. Over to the transparent TV it looks very similar to the Apple 17" Studio Display everymac.com/monitors/apple/studio_cinema/specs/apple_studio_display_17_cl.html The first time I saw one of those (in John Lewis when they first came out) I would have bought it there and then had it have been compatible with a PC. You could even get matching transparent speakers. The whole thing looked like a sculpture for electronics enthusiasts.

[@Techmoan]

There’s a load of contributory reasons. I was using cassettes daily in my dictation devices at work too..and many people were still buying blanks to use for home recording. There’s only so much you can say about other things in a video that’s really about how prison tech contributed to the survival of cassette but more significantly shaped the tech that’s available to play them today.

[@rich1051414]

I have always laughed at people eating up Apple's prison TV as if it was top shelf wine. Deep pockets don't require deep minds.

[@charlieboy259]

@Benghali In Platforms my girlfriend's grandad had cassettes to listen to from the RNIB until he passed away in 2011

[@MrDuncl]

@@charlieboy259 You could still buy a tape Sony Walkman in 2012. My research on this www.stereo2go.com/forums/threads/the-last-tape-walkman-s.5362/

[@MrDuncl]

@@rich1051414 In Europe we weren't aware of transparent products being especially made for US prisons so to us it looked exotic compared to the usual beige boxes of the time.

[@Takoto]

Super interesting! Slightly related (and somewhat anecdotal) I think a large market of straight-to-cassette recorders (and indeed a large number of blank cassettes) in the UK right now is disabled folks, such as myself. When applying for disability benefits, you're allowed to record your "interview" with the disability assessor, and the DWP will only accept recordings that can be recorded and produced as a hard copy during the "interview". Due to the many, many cases of large chunks of information given at these "interviews"/assessments being ""mysteriously missing from the interviewers write-ups/notes" and the many cases of information being "accidentally" added (such as the somewhat well known case of a bed-bound lady a few years ago having her assessor write that she "said she can walk the dog every other day fine with little pain" when the lady had never even had a dog and was unable to leave her bed without collapsing...), many disabled people applying for PIP or ESA opt to buy two straight-to-cassette recorders just for their benefits assessments for posterity. So much so that when a few years ago, I was in a similar position, I found a tech website selling such recorders, and the vast majority of the reviewers were from other people in the same position.

[@gyalpoirgyud4759]

"I'm disabl- ACK!"

[@matthewschoen9827]

Using the CRT screen to show your face while showing off item at the same time is a god tier editing choice.

[@pdmacguire]

CD players were long kept out of the prison system because they were being converted into tattoo machines. And it wasn't the tattooing which jails and prisons objected to, so much as the frequently resultant infections which resulted from badly done and poorly maintained tattoos. MRSA and other resistant infections are a very real problem in prisons.

[@ahmed7989]

Just realized who JerryRigEverything's target audience is

[@ericbazinga]

And TheLockpickingLawyer

[@pandorin2348]

ericbazinga lmfaoooooo

[@ADeeSHUPA]

@@ericbazinga uP

[@weir-t7y]

@@ericbazinga well that one was obvious. Guy is a fucking thief and a thief-enabler

[@weir-t7y]

@@Brib8888 lawyers can be thieves mate

[@billspangler2685]

Wow- you took me back to darker days in my youth. I unfortunately had one of these clear TVs and cassette players at one point many years ago, and for the wrong reason. You've helped me see how much I've changed as a person, as well as how much technology changes. Thanks!

[@samman350]

Did you get out of the slammer?

[@coolkid9967]

@@samman350 lol

[@ISpillSprite]

Now the line “I don’t remember what happened to that guy, I think he went to prison” from the videophone episode makes sense 😂

[@Bassfuzz442]

I work for a Koss dealer in the U.S. we sell the clear headphones to prisons. Our Koss sales rep was in the office for a meeting one day about 10 years ago. He explained to me that they had to switch out the Kevlar reinforced cables in all clear models because one had be used as garrote to strangle a person to death.

[@thomasdebercey1709]

The Yeezus cassette was also designed to maintain continuity with the original album cover, which was a clear CD case with red tape on the side.

[@plasmazulu6643]

I’m glad someone else knew.

[@SHorTStuF0888]

That was a Minidisc.... not a CD. 🙄

[@plasmazulu6643]

@@SHorTStuF0888 No, he’s referring to the CD release of _Yeezus._

[@dvb013]

@@SHorTStuF0888 It was a CD for Yeezus, the minidisc one was for Kanye’s unreleased album Yandhi

[@aidanprice4938]

@@SHorTStuF0888 Yandhi was a minidisc, Yeezus was a CD

[@grimmy74uk]

A lot of churches used cassettes for a long time as well to record services for poorly or frail worshipers. Maybe some still do?

[@ivanztube]

I recorded some services here in Brazil until 2006. I can't do this today because I don't have tape decks anymore. I miss them.

[@Monosekist]

Imagine getting released from prison now, and being told that you still couldn't go anywhere.

[@EricSwanson1]

I got out two years ago after doing 11 years. Even though I've been out for a while, that statement hits home.

[@leaninheavy]

I love how everyone acts like prisoners are completely cut off from society. Really dense.

[@paultoler5517]

@@leaninheavy I mean... they *literally* are

[@deltacharlieecho4732]

Prison tech is the perfect tech for teaching about electronics. Such a cool concept that I wish we had more of in the market place.

[@VendoThefastlane]

One more reason for cassettes being produced that is strange... Here in Japan, the majority of elderly traditional Japanese music fans still prefer to buy on cassette. New releases of what would be called "oldies" in the west (even by new artists) are in music stores and rest stops on new cassettes.

[@toposebi95]

Enka?

[@elimalinsky7069]

I thought Japan was still hooked up on MiniDiscs, but did not realize cassettes were still a big thing there.

[@michaelmartin9022]

@@toposebi95 Enka's like the casette genre, even second hand, almost every casette is Enka, you almost never see any pop, rock, classical etc.

[@Toxicity1987]

Same in Italy, traditional Music is often sold on casettes.

[@tubbiele2]

Another reason: It's still cheaper to run limited quantities of cassettes (~20, ~50) than CDs

[@NewFalconerRecords]

I was waiting for a prison edition of the puppets. That would've been cool, with them both wearing little outfits with arrows on them.

[@LRM12o8]

Imagine them wearing a ball and chain, lol

[@NewFalconerRecords]

@@LRM12o8 ...and scraping tin cups across the prison bars :-D

[@OutOfInk]

So Pepsi crystal, they made just for the prisoners I’m I right ?

[@Emiliano_Toledo]

Am I rigth* uwu

[@zacri9434]

@@Emiliano_Toledo please no

[@rickylafleur5823]

@@zacri9434 UWU

[@monochrome_soft9472]

@@zacri9434 u w u

[@NDN_FTR]

You mean crystal meth?

[@NotOnLand]

I love that clear tech, I wish it was still in vogue. I had a clear telephone in my room as a kid and even though I never used it I loved having it to see all the cool wires and stuff inside.

[@MMichael834r]

I'd like to add that cassettes are still used by lots of underground music bands without any connection to prison inmates or US penal system. Just cause it's cheap and easier to record.

[@AutPen38]

Hipsters should be in prison for releasing criminal records on cassette.

[@gogereaver349]

yep cheap using type 1 tape with no dts.

[@_penguins9916]

The clear type look also reminds people of the whole “y2k” look which is what people are becoming nostalgic about

[@johndavies4644]

_Penguins crystal game boy crystal Xbox etc lol

[@Ihavepinkeye]

Awfully stupid to let it die out in the first place though

[@blooman80]

injury reserve 🤘

[@-roejogan-]

I used to have that clear TV in the thumbnail! My uncle gave it to me when he came back from prison. It was cool!

[@mr.pitjoey2910]

When I first moved from Washington to Arizona in a transfer with a property management company this guy had that T.V and was selling it. I asked why and he said he was going back to prison. I asked, why don't you bring it with you and he said he couldn't because of the prison rules. That T.V he had, he paid three hundred dollars for roughly. I guess they get you coming and going.

[@lobsterhelmet348]

As long as the underground metal scene exists, there will always be a home for cassettes. A number of metal musicians I know- myself included- still to this day release almost exclusively in two formats: digital and cassette. It's part aesthetic choice, part tradition.

[@RCAvhstape]

It's not just metal, it's basically any underground music. I am friends with a dude who runs his own electronic music label and releases everything on cassette, and local punk bands do it a lot too.

[@kalamay]

@@tylerjames1716 so profound. What a fuckwit

[@efftee]

This is the last channel i'd expect to find Yeezus on lol

[@stp584]

As a corrections officer, I have an odd appreciation for this video. Things to note, the availability of products like Tv's or casette/mp3 players are for different custody levels. So, the bulk of the prison really only get the radios and nothing else, and the inmates treat those like they are made of solid gold (hyperbole).

[@heidithomas5455]

I think you meant simile...using like or as to compare two unlike items The radios are LIKE gold. Radios compared to gold Hyperbole is an extreme exaggeration Mom's told you A MILLION times to clean your room. Or... I'm so hungry I could eat a horse. But I knew that you were not seriously saying the radio was made of gold. 😀

[@Gambit771]

@@heidithomas5455 Nowt he said was incorrect. Do you see how being a grammar nazi only embarrasses you.

[@Screwcharger85]

stp584 same here brother ! We have our “Best Buy “ storage lol 😂

[@CyberCactus]

@@heidithomas5455 he was using a simile for hyperbolic purposes. The fact that it's a simile is irrelevant, but he did have to point out that it was hyperbole since otherwise he would be saying that the radios were literally worth gold. His expression was a completely correct way of phrasing it, clarifying the 'metaphor' as you suggest would have actually been useless and unnecessary.

[@heidithomas5455]

@@CyberCactus hyperboles, similes, personification and metaphors are examples of figure of speech, but you cannot lable a hyperbole a simile nor can you lable a simile a hyperbole. They are seperate parts of speech and technically, they are very different. Just because he's comparing the radio to gold, it is how it's presented that makes the difference. If he wanted to use a hyperbole he could have written, The radio is a golden commodity. A hyperbole does not use comparisons as the metaphors and the similes. Please, I am a teacher and have had to explain this to kids. Look it up and read about the differences. You don't want to sound ignorant.

[@theduderski2848]

I remember paying $40 for a shitty pocket radio in prison that probably cost $1 to produce, almost everything in prison is sold at a ridiculous mark up.

[@meercreate]

Institutionally sanctioned monopolies baby!!!

[@cavejohnson4306]

The government’s food budget for prisoners is 18 cents a meal, I forget what they charge the prisoners for them though.

[@testname4464]

@@cavejohnson4306 I'm pretty sure they don't charge for meals. Commissary items, like chips, cookies, and other snacks are sold for cash.

[@jazzrz9716]

Just imagine. A gamer going to prison in 2010, he usually gets 30 FPS. Gets out of prison and comes back to +300fps and 300hz monitors in 2020.

[@kurnma3776]

NonLegit Nation Interesting!

[@luqhakim5711]

@NonLegit Nation damn bro. What did you do that had you locked up 11 years.. okay that may be inappropriate. But anyways, enjoy the world of new tech!

[@noahpaulette1490]

@NonLegit Nation they A+ certification is BS though. A lot of useless stuff but I keep one for reference in the shop well as the network and security ones lol.

[@Islandswamp]

Prison should be reserved for violent offenders. Also it's awful that criminal records harm people forever. How do they expect anyone to improve their lives if they are blacklisted from good jobs for the rest of their lives? I can understand that with violent or sexual crimes not wanting those people to get hired in the wrong place, but there are a lot of nonviolent drug offenders in prison. I know plenty of people that would be felons if they'd been pulled over on the wrong day and some of those people now have great jobs. It's a joke.

[@franny-]

@NonLegit Nation damn same specs are my build only differences is i have a 3600x and a regular 2070 and my ram speed is 3200 but same gb lol

[@GlennDavey]

I actually LOVE clear electronics, they were big in the 80's. My clear radio walkman had extra LEDs inside that you could turn on and looked super cool at night in the dark lying in bed listening to music and wake up with ear-phones wrapped around your kneck

[@OttosTheName]

Good guy Techmoan reminding us there are people much more confined than the general public is right now.

[@Talia.777]

😔😔😔😔

[@SeanBZA]

Will add to that that currently the government has suspended the sale of alcohol other than hand sanitiser. Thus there are people at home looking forward to being behind the door of a bar.

[@OttosTheName]

@@SeanBZA 'the government'? what government?

[@SeanBZA]

@@OttosTheName South African government. also suspended the sale of tobacco products at retail, though they relaxed it in that you can buy them with other essential purchases like food. All take away places closed, as well as delivery to homes of take away foodstuff as well. I know some people are really having it difficult, as they are stuck at home, and their cooking abilities do not extend further than burning water. no alcohol though in any form, either retail or wholesale, and no transport of it either. Guess the illegal trade is doing an even more roaring business though, and shops are all out of cough syrup and alcohol based mouthwash.

[@OttosTheName]

@/X/EN Dude, chill out, I'm just joking. I think about how stressfull it must be in prison with inadequate ventilators and lack of personal space all the time.

[@user-ov2fc5sd1e]

A bit weird cassettes are allowed in prison, but then as he said: prison regulations are arbitrary. Cassette tapes are highly flammable materials. I bet even sunlight can burn them with a some lens focus manipulation.

[@chucklebutt4470]

I was bored and skimmed through the document he showed at the beginning. A ton of the rules sound similar to Army Bootcamp lol.

[@Azlehria]

@@chucklebutt4470 Similar reasons lead to similar rules. The stresses are very close - my stay in jail felt very much like boot camp all over again, just with less fresh air and activity. Also less bronchitis and pneumonia, so I guess in some ways jail was actually better . . ..

[@elliottjewell5898]

@@Azlehria Why'd you end up in prison?

[@EricSwanson1]

Yeah, but for real anything can be a weapon in prison. We used petroleum based hair grease to light fires when there was a riot or something. Check out the video about the Lansing Riot earlier this year. I was in that prison in 2018. I can almost guarantee those fires were started with hair grease. They smear hair grease on the blankets, put a spark to it, and throw the blankets out on the catwalk.

[@maddiiydaddiiy]

Hair grease is the main kindling in peison

[@greenkoopa]

When I was in jail in 2011, you couldn't buy a tape player. They sold a battery powered radio tuner (headphones sold separately) for $25 😒

[@notsunnydaysahead]

Theta 32x what did you got locked up for jamming 32Xs? Nah lol I’m jus....jus messing around but nah still tho what did you got locked up for?

[@randomvideosn0where]

That's an absolute rip! They should have put a solar panel from the calculator on it, that would go a long way on a scanner.

[@notsunnydaysahead]

Gernot Schrader wow powerful words man I mean yea it’s not like I was downplaying him I jus kinda genuinely wanted to know......... ya paraphraser

[@greenkoopa]

What was I in jail for? I'm American. I was charged with possession of marijuana (less than 1 gram) and sentenced to 11 months 29 days in the county jail. Land of the free indeed 😉

[@greenkoopa]

@@notsunnydaysahead I was never charged for that and you can't prove ANYTHING 👀

[@dylanh4657]

As someone who was once in prison with Cassettes, we NEVER had players that were that big. Maybe in a group room or something they would have something that big, but inmates have/had walkman sized players.

[@Klick404]

What I seemed to take away from this is that prisons keep tech in use for the grey area where the tech isn't relevant, nor is it nostalgic. Then, when tech does fall into nostalgia, it can be sold again

[@Timodahler]

At least they're transparent about the fact that it's garbage.

[@finnanutyo1153]

That was an underappreciated joke.

[@trevorstechcorner8361]

🥁 💥

[@jballard3253]

Been there, done that - your right about radio reception being terrible. How we got around that was to buy an extra set of earphones, break open 1 earpiece, carefully unwind the copper coil in the earpiece and then tape that wire along the wall to the ceiling & then across the ceiling toward a window and attach it to the "stubby" antenna base for better reception. The ONLY problem with that was - when it was discovered by a guard, he'd rip it down. Then is was "wash, rinse, repeat"!

[@AutPen38]

It seems ridiculous to me that the system provides 'handicapped' devices, which causes prisoners to break the rules and have disputes with the guards, when it would be easier to just treat the prisoners like humans. If they were given functioning devices they could simply use them and be relatively peaceful, without the constant conflict with the guards.

[@zachgaines8349]

I got a hiteker flatscreen prison TV at a yardsale and it's the most durrable travel monitor I've ever owned. Thing's indestructible.

[@ext93]

Good for dropping on your prison enemies from the 2nd floor

[@dasarge84]

funny when i was a kid i loved the clear cases on devices being able to see the inner workings of it in action never knew it was because of the prison system about time i heard something good came out of it lol

[@ram89572]

well some of them wouldn't have been because of it. for example i doubt the reason Nintendo made a clear purple N64 controller had anything to do with prisons.

[@charlieapples9373]

I’m currently using a clear prison monitor/small flatscreen TV with a clear remote control for my side monitor. I got it when I worked at an electronics repair shop that also bought and resold used electronics. Unfortunately I didn’t meet the guy that brought it in, but I had to have it. It’s great, it has HDMI and USB ports, really sharp picture. And it reminds me of my clear purple Gameboy Color and all the other cool clear electronics from the 90’s. The only downside is the back of the LED screen (inside of the TV) glows EXTREMELY bright when it’s turned on, and you can’t do anything about it. But I still love it. I have no idea how the guy got it, because it has “Property of [My Town] City Corrections” written on the back in Sharpie...but hey, the cops never came looking for it, so it was a win for me. Edit: I live in the USA, and I’d guess the tv was manufactured sometime between 2010-2015

[@BloodAsp]

CRT's are a piece of art, and deserve to to liberated with clear enclosures!

[@frankpitochelli6786]

Unfortunately they couldn't be entirely clear due to the black colored aquadag paint that is put on the glass inside the CRT, without that paint the CRT could not transfer high voltage to the shadow/face mask and phosphors.

[@blazingluke]

Or liberated from their enclosures! Visitors to my home are often SHOCKED by my bare television!

[@frankpitochelli6786]

On second thought, I misunderstood the meaning of your comment, yes, you are correct and the CRT Television should be transparent so people can see what it was that makes them tick... I spent 40 yrs in the tv repair business and ppl really never understood what it takes to watch a show/movie etc..they take it for granted that it just magically appears.. Lol...in some ways it does when you think about what's happening on a molecular basis.!!

[@alexcolucci4490]

I agree

[@chasetaylor3192]

I respect him for having Yeezus on Cassette

[@BigMoodGiraffe]

UN-OPEND AS WELL

[@megano2000]

Shoutout to Yeezus

[@hahaihaveahandlenow]

I was expecting the prison edition to be standard, tbh.

[@CaiqueDeQueiroz]

Same

[@oumtjackawillie]

I respect him even more for having: Paris - The devil made me do it. That some classic hip hop.