30 years ago this week Sony launched the first Walkman, the TPS-L2. This product changed the world for how people listened to their personal music. The TPS-L2 was a sleek package with small footprint that allowed people to easily carry their cassette tapes and listen to their music on the go.
The TPS-L2 originally sold for $200 and was called the “Soundabout” but the company quickly turned the company brand into the Walkman by the end of that same year. Sony never looked back…well, not until the iPod came out 23 years later.
With the introduction of digital music Sony lost their step in being the lead provider of personal audio players.
Now Sony is sporting their flagship Walkman the NW-X1000. This model sports the ability to play video horizontally, serf the internet, mobile TV but lacks the key feature of personal contacts and phone.
The personal audio player is not a sprint but a marathon in product development and branding, so I wouldn’t be surprised if one day the Sony Walkman takes the #1 seat again for personal audio players.
Happy Birthday Sony Walkman. To learn a bit more about the history of the Walkman visit a good article PCWorld wrote just a couple days ago.
Kicking around in technology since 2002. I like to write about technology products and ideas, but at the consumer level understanding. Some tech, but not too techie.
Posting on Quora.com as well.
