Laptops Archives | Alan Cross' A Journal of Musical Things

Funny/Weird Ongoing History of New Music

Ongoing History Daily: The weirdest music-and-tech glitch ever involved laptops and Janet Jackson

June 2, 2025 Alan Cross 0 Comments 0 min read

People who bought Windows laptops around 2005 noticed a weird thing. Whenever someone played Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation within earshot (that is, coming from an audio source other than the computer itself), the laptop

Funny/Weird

This Janet Jackson music video could crash your laptop

August 19, 2022 Alan Cross 0 Comments 1 min read

If you bought a Windows laptop in 2005 and it’s still working, don’t use it to view the video for Janet Jackson’s 1989 hit, “Rhythm Nation,” because it could really hurt things. People

Controversy

This Dance Club Has Banned DJs with Laptops. Here’s Why.

June 10, 2016 Alan Cross 0 Comments 1 min read

Back in the day, DJing required fast hands and the confidence to drop beats and samples in real time in front of the dance floor. There was no margin for error. Those with