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Sony Walkman

Now we come to our cover star, the Walkman. If Sony were to invent it today, it would have to be called the Walkperson, but back in the late ’70s it was perfectly acceptable to be sexist in a brand name.

The origins of the Walkman are actually very interesting. It was created by a Sony engineer, Nobutoshi Kihara, for his chairman, Akio Morita. Morita was flying all around the world on business, and wanted to be able to listen to his favourite operas while travelling. Kihara created a portable tape player with small headphones – a personal stereo.

Of course, Walkman is actually the Sony brand name, most other manufacturers used ‘personal stereo’ as a generic term. Although Sony were widely credited with inventing the technology, there was something called a Stereobelt created by a German, Andreas Pavel, in the early ’70s, and 30 years later Sony had to settle with him and credit him with founding the device.

But, whoever was responsible, it revolutionised entertainment for years, perhaps forever, with the current digital incarnation of iPods and similar devices all owing a great debt to that first simple idea – ‘I want to listen to music on the move, without annoying the people around me.’

Or, ‘without annoying them too much’. The incessant chhzzchhhzchhhzz of noise bleed from the headphones would gradually drive other people mad, especially on commuter trains and buses. This is still a problem today, but most would consider it a small price to pay in return for music on the go.

The first Walkman was a cassette player and that was the standard device for many years. It did evolve into a CD version – the Discman – and now the digital devices we know today. It was the accessory of choice for joggers and roller skaters throughout the ’80s, and paved the way for today’s society where everyone goes around with white earbuds and nobody talks to each other any more.

Oh.

I am sure there are still some people who own and use a Walkman in its original cassette form, but they must be few and far between. As is the nature with any cutting-edge technology, it has been overtaken by smaller, better, and cheaper devices. It played its part, but has now been cast aside.

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