The Impact of the Sony Walkman
When I step outside my house, I check for three things: my wallet, my phone, and my AirPods. Listening to music has become an integral part of my everyday life. Thanks to my phone and AirPods, I can listen to music anywhere and anytime. Listening to my favorite songs through streaming services such as Spotify helps brighten my walk to class or my time at the gym.
Given the popularity of music streaming services and products like the AirPods, I am not alone. Listening to music or podcasts has become a seamless and valuable addition to various parts of our lives today. This development in our lifestyle would not be possible without the invention of the Sony Walkman. Released by Sony in 1979, TPS-LA2 Walkman is an iconic device that revolutionized how we listen to music. The idea of a private portable music experience was first popularized by its iconic design.
The product was first created by Sony co-founder Masaru Ibuka. As an avid music lover, he wanted to be able to listen to opera music on long flights and found that the smallest personal audio players at the time were too big to always carry with him. When he brought this to the attention of Sony engineers, they designed a very simple prototype of a lightweight cassette player that would eventually become the Walkman.
When the product was first released, there was opposition from both outside and inside Sony. Cassette players and headphones already existed, and people thought the new product from Sony is not inventive or unique enough to perform well in the market. In addition, the TPS-L2 could not record tapes. But despite these setbacks, the Walkman became a huge success, selling out its initial run of 30,000 units in Japan at prices that $200 ($700 in today’s money).
Why was this product so successful?
The product recognized and catered to a need not met by other technologies during that time. The Walkman was the first to make portable music private. Technologies like boomboxes and portable radios had been around, but Walkman gave a unique private listening experience for people on to go. The addition of headphone jacks gave its users a comfortable way to listen to music as they walked and share music with a friend privately.
The Walkman was streamlined and small (barely larger than a cassette). This meant that the engineers were very careful about the features they added to the product. One of the main developments in the Walkman was its exceptional audio playback quality. It included playback hardware that reduced hiss and background noise while emphasizing tone and high-frequency responses. This focus on audio playback played a huge role in the product’s success as many users appreciated the clear sound of stereo headphones.
The product’s simple design and functionality gave it other benefits such as long battery life. Sony realized that portable devices such as the Walkman needed to last long enough for people to enjoy music without constantly replacing batteries. The minimal functionality of the product made it easy for engineers to design the player using low levels of power. This meant that the Walkman could be used for 3.5 hours continuously and even up to 8 hours using a heavy-duty battery.
Social Aspects of owning a Walkman
Just as the iPhone is a status symbol now, the Walkman was prestigious. It helped youngsters in the 80s and 90s look fashionable and relevant. Since the Walkman was worn outside of the jeans, everyone walking past you knew that you owned one. This allowed the Walkman to serve as a badge that showed off your wealth and technological prowess. In addition, the Walkman served as an extension of self. It embodied a very personal listening experience for each and achieved a connection with its users, unlike any other product at the time.
Walkman’s 31-Year Reign
From Walkman’s introduction in 1979 until its retirement in 2010, Sony sold up than 400 million units. The Walkman proved to be one of the most successful consumer gadgets of all time and its impact can be seen in many devices since then. The device however would fail to keep up with its competitors and was eventually discontinued after the introduction of the Apple iPod. Walkman and its many iterations failed due to Sony’s failure to innovate features to sustain the product in the market.
iPod Overtaking the Market
While the Walkman was considered sleek and simple during its introduction, by today’s standard, the design seems clunky and hard to use when compared to the iPod. The iPod, introduced by Apple in 2001, used the same principles as the Walkman but improved upon it using the latest technology: mp3s and broadband. The first iPod had a better storage capacity of 5 GB and store up to 1000 songs. In addition, Apple swiftly used the internet to offer services such as iTunes Music Store which sold over 1.5 million songs. Portable cassette and CD players slowly began to lose to the mp3 players. According to the Economist, iPod was titled the “Walkman of the 21st century”
Impact of the Walkman:
Over its impressive run for over three decades, Walkman has left a significant impact on how we approach and use technology today. The International Research Center for Japanese Studies coined the term “Walkman Effect”. The Walkman effect refers to the way music is listened to via headphones allowing the user to gain more control over their environment. Portable music devices such as the Walkman change the way humans interact with each other in public. Headphones and private listening enable users to float through public areas in a protective bubble, tuning in or out of their surroundings.
Andreas Pavel, the first person to invent and patent the portable personal stereo cassette player, stated that “life become a film” after the invention of the Walkman. “It emotionalized your life. It actually put magic into your life.” As a music lover, I can relate to this sentiment 40 years after the invention of the Walkman. It made music a personal and special experience for its users. Walkman was one of the first gadgets that users always carried with them. It was a pathway to other technological developments such as smartphones, smart watches, earbuds, etc.
