JOIN USSony Walkman: Pocket-friendly music player turns 40
On July 1, 1979, Sony introduced the TPS-L2 (Walkman) music player that revolutionalised the way people listen to songs.
Though the Sony Walkman wasn't the first portable music player to hit the market, it was the most pocket-friendly. It came with a compact design and cost less (for around ¥39,433.58 or $150) when compared with rival brands, making it a crowd favourite.
Walkman was the brainchild of Masaru Ibuka, co-founder of Sony. Ibuka felt that the music players in the late 1970s were too bulky and expensive. His team got into action and created a prototype from a modified Sony Pressman, which was designed specifically for journalists to carry around while covering events.
Yes, it wouldn't fit into tight jeans easily, but the Sony Walkman could be kept in a jacket or a coat pocket with ease.
Back then, Sony couldn't settle on a moniker to use for the global market. It sold the device TPS-L2 as Soundabout in the United States, Freestyle in Australia and Sweden, and Stowaway in the UK.
Initially, Sony anticipated to sell around 5,000 units a month but ended up selling more than 50,000 units in two months. The rest, as they say, is history.
As the demand grew globally in the early 1980s, Sony finally found a simple and catchy name - the Walkman. It was an instant hit among youth and it became so popular that the moniker became a generic term like Xerox (for photocopy) and Kleenex (for tissue paper).
Walkman not only ruled the markets in the 80s but also in the 90s as Sony was quick to see the cassette trend waning and CDs (Compact Disks) gaining traction. Sony still continues to use the Walkman branding for its latest audio players even today.
However, Sony Walkman lost the battle to the Apple iPod in 2001. The latter also couldn't sustain itself for long. With the advent of the iPhone and touch-screen mobiles in the late 2000s, the concept of owning a dedicated music player was lost among consumers.
Now, smartphones come with up to 1TB storage (Samsung Galaxy S10+),which is more than enough to store thousands of songs. Also, with the availability of subscription-based services like Apple Music, Spotify and Google Play Music, the consumer does not require large storage on the phone at all, a good internet connection will suffice.
Having said that, the Sony Walkman still continues to bring out nostalgia among audiophiles and will remain an iconic device that revolutionised the music world.
Check out the Sony's Walkman 40th anniversary video:
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