The End of an Era: Loudspeaker

The Mezzacello Portable Loudspeaker has died. Technically, it still works, but it can’t be recharged. The USB C charging plug has come apart from the motherboard and it will no longer transfer a 5V 1Amp charge. Do I toss it or do I figure out how to get a charger adapted to the motherboard?

Four Years and and 100s of Voices

The real power of this loudspeaker

In 2021 when I first started teaching Farming STEM camps here at Mezzacello Urban Farm I bought this loudspeaker with two wireless microphones. This system was portable and kids at camps and workshops were able to give tours or do presentations anywhere using this system. Its real superpower was amplifying confidence, and that’s what I will miss the most.

This really is a great product. Over time the Microphones would fail, but that loudspeaker was a talisman of confidence for hundreds of kids. When kids saw other kids (and parents) using that microphone, they learned to believe in the power of their voice as well.

Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

I can replace it - although funds are tight. I want to incorporate it into my January STEM trainings and see if we can’t engineer a workaround for this basic design for obsolescence functional piece. That feels more in line with the mission here at Mezzacello Urban Farm.

What do you think? Should It Stay Or Should It Go? Go ahead and start singing to the Clash, I am. In fact I’ll sing into this loudspeaker until the battery drains.