Mystery slot

[OneEyeJack]

I gave a neighbor's high school age son and his friend a ride home. They were looking at the radio. They inserted a CD to play some music they recorded at school.

Just below the CD slot on my 03 4Runner's radio there was another slot about 3 inches wide and a quarter inch in height. I asked them if they knew what it was for but they were stumped, didn't have a clue.

I understand that 2003 was a long time ago. Is there an older person out there that might know what that slot is for? A CD just does not fit.

 

[jhellwig]

That is where you cram the mp3 player in.

Or poptart holder.

 

[bvance554]

I have a 14 year old son and when he was setting up our new printer he asked 'what is a fax?'

 

[Ifixyawata]

Coins.

Put your loose change in there and once you have a roll worth of any given denomination, a light on the dash will go off that looks like this "$" and if you open the glove box (center console on select models) you'll have a roll of those coins, ready to deposit in the bank.

 

[shanneba]

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
I gave a neighbor's high school age son and his friend a ride home. They were looking at the radio. They inserted a CD to play some music they recorded at school.

Just below the CD slot on my 03 4Runner's radio there was another slot about 3 inches wide and a quarter inch in height. I asked them if they knew what it was for but they were stumped, didn't have a clue.

I understand that 2003 was a long time ago. Is there an older person out there that might know what that slot is for? A CD just does not fit.


Sounds like it might be a cassette tape slot'
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-4runner-R...=item27f2661327

Here is a list of the 2003 model features
http://top4runners.com/runhist/4thgen/2003_4runner.pdf
The SR 5 has
Deluxe 3-in-1 AM/FM ETR/Cassette/CD with 6 speakers and in-glass FM diversity antenna

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
slot about 3 inches wide and a quarter inch in height.

Does this slot have a little door that you can push open with your finger? If so, it's for a cassette tape, as Shanneba says.

I grew up with those cassettes. Boy am I feeling OLD just now...

 

[Olas]

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
I gave a neighbor's high school age son and his friend a ride home. They were looking at the radio. They inserted a CD to play some music they recorded at school.

Just below the CD slot on my 03 4Runner's radio there was another slot about 3 inches wide and a quarter inch in height. I asked them if they knew what it was for but they were stumped, didn't have a clue.

I understand that 2003 was a long time ago. Is there an older person out there that might know what that slot is for? A CD just does not fit.


Is it a mini-disc holder/player?

 

[Rick in PA]

Compact Cassette, it predated the Compact Disk ("CD").

 

[Rick in PA]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_Cassette

You could buy them pre-recoded, just like an album, or you could record your own music on them. They came in different lengths, C60, C90, C120. The C90 was nice because it could hold two albums, one on each 45 minute side. The C120 wasn't so great as they had to use thinner magnetic tape and the sound quality was poor & they were more likely to break.

Overall the sound quality was so-so as the tape speed was slow, just 1-7/8 inches per second. The players used a rubber belt drive which was prone to break after much use and/or time. Due to the linear nature of magnetic tape, you had to listen to the music sequentially, there was no ability to change tracks. A few reasons the CD format superseded the tape cassette.

 

[DuckRyder]

God now I feel old...

Is it bad that I know what 8-Track, Laser Disc, Betamax, VHS are.

Pretty soon CD will be a thing of the past...

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
now I feel old...

That's what I said, a few posts back.

Here, you can join me in feeling even older. Remember when stores similar to THIS were everywhere?
It was always "Records and Tapes", remember?

And is that a Datsun 200SX, off to the far right? When was the last time you saw one of those?

 

[Ifixyawata]

For the record, my response was in jest... as I thought OP's post was. I see some detailed serious responses and I'm like

 

[Pop_Rivit]

I guess I don't understand your point. Your description makes it sound like a cassette tape player, but you expect modern kids to recognize an outdated technology? I'd also guess that they wouldn't recognize an 8 track tape either.

 

[Cujet]

I agree with the poster above, I think it's for coins, hahahahahahahahaha!!!!

Ah, the hiss of an old cassette tape.... those were the days! (not)

 

[supton]

I don't recognize the video games and movies that kids love and cherish. Nor their social media (twitter, Facepalm, etc). They could hit the books and learn about cassette tapes and 8 tracks just like I could learn about twitter; but why should I (or they) learn about stuff they have no interest in?

Actually... how did they look up from their gameboy long enough to notice the tape deck? usually the kids of this generation are too busy to notice the world around them.

 

[pottymouth]

Originally Posted By: Tegger
Originally Posted By: DuckRyder
now I feel old...

That's what I said, a few posts back.

Here, you can join me in feeling even older. Remember when stores similar to THIS were everywhere?
It was always "Records and Tapes", remember?

And is that a Datsun 200SX, off to the far right? When was the last time you saw one of those?



I had a '78 Monte Carlo in exactly the same color. Guarantee there was something different under the hood. That car made me some money in my misspent youth. Good times...

 

[RoadRaceJosh]

Originally Posted By: Ifixyawata
Coins.

Put your loose change in there and once you have a roll worth of any given denomination, a light on the dash will go off that looks like this "$" and if you open the glove box (center console on select models) you'll have a roll of those coins, ready to deposit in the bank.


No joke, my first son as a toddler took the coins from the coin holder and fed them into the CD player of my then new 2000 Golf TDi. The dealer service writer loaned me the tool to pull the radio. The radio's case just snapped together so the quarters were easy to remove. I gave the service writer the quarters as rent for the tool.

I appreciate that the save button is still a floppy disc.

 

[meep]

I feel old.

I just donated a RTR recorder/player, rack-mountable, direct drive, a few months ago. the only thing it was good for was demonstrating what came before CD, before cassette, and before 8-tracks. The heads were badly worn and I wasn't convinced the $ need to have them lapped was worth it.

-M

 

[OneEyeJack]

All just a sign of old age.

A DJ said he was looking through a collection of record albums. His middle school aged son pulled out one and proclaimed hey day, Paul McCartney was in a group before Wings.

 

[bvance554]

And strangely vinyl is the only music medium seeing an increase in sales.