TORONTO, Digital Journal — Most of us can’t leave home without it. A trip to the gym or a ride on the public transit just isn’t the same when it’s missing. We’re addicted to our portable music devices and we need a Walkman.
First patented as the ‘stereobelt’ by German inventor Andreas Pavel in 1977, portable personal music technology didn’t makes its mark until corporate giant Sony released the first commercial version – dubbed the “Walkman” – in 1979.
The idea was simple: replace the home stereo and/or ghetto blaster by providing a compact portable device for users to listen to their music with – without disrupting those around them. Despite its steep price tag at the time ($200 USD), the idea caught commercial fire and millions of users quickly disappeared into their own musical worlds, to the exclusion of all others.
Stunned by Sony’s success – who were equally surprised, as they had done no market research for their new product – other electronics manufacturers jumped headfirst into the market. Within months, Toshiba, Infinity, Panasonic, GE, and others had come out with their own product lines. None, however, could match the marketing muscle and brand recognition of Sony and its Walkman. Mainstream status was cemented when the term ‘walkman’ entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 1986.
During the 80’s the new features came fast and furious: first was FM tuning; then auto-reverse; followed by hi-fi Dolby Audio; and finally aesthetic considerations like the more durable Sport case. New forms of media emerged in the 90’s: The Walkman begat the Discman; which eventually evolved into the combination CD/MP3 player.
With the benefit of 25 years of hindsight, the clear legacy of the Walkman is the democratization of music. With its introduction to popular culture, listeners were no longer constrained to radio airplay – they suddenly had the power to listen to what they wanted, when then wanted.
And listen they did. The mixed tape became the love poem of an era as album filler was relegated to the trash bin. Perhaps not coincidentally, music television found its legs during the Walkman boom and new artists were paraded from the nation’s living rooms to a listener’s ear on a 24-hour loop.
After relinquishing market share and brand recognition to Apple’s iPod, Sony is poised to re-enter the market in a major way with their new NW-HD1 device, which is 1.3cm thick and capable of holding 13,000 songs, powered by a 30-hour rechargeable battery. Quite a change from 1979’s little wonder.
