Learning from the past – Hobbies Part 2. The arrival of the Walkman! Bringing a new era in portable music.

Today, with most mobile phones having a music playing function, you could say that it is the era of one portable music player per person. Apple's iPod and other makers are doing battle in the portable music player market, but ten years ago it was the Sony Walkman that controlled the lion's share of the world market. Let's wander down memory lane and take a look at the original Walkman.

TPS–L2
The first Walkman, the "TPS-L2" was released in 1979. At the time the media wasn't very interested, just calling it a "cassette player that can't record". Sony then conducted marketing campaign directly at the fashion conscious youth. They introduced it as a part of street fashion – and a lifestyle with music all the time. The word soon got around, and the Walkman = the stereo with headphones took the world by storm.

Numerous companies tried to break into the new headphone stereo market that the Sony Walkman had made. But against the power of the Sony product the others seemed second rate. Sony evolved in design and functionality, and became a partner to youth lifestyle. The WM-701C which was released in 1989 stood out from the rest with its soft form and fully remote control functions.

The eighties saw the miniaturization of music players other than cassettes. The Audio Technica "Soundburger" was a revolutionary record player, however the record itself could not be miniaturized therefore it wasn't practical (but popular among collectors). The Sony FD-200 – a miniature TV was amazing. Next was the first portable CD Walkman, and the foundation for the portable music player was laid in the eighties. Looking back you can see how Sony led the field.

The NW-S630FK walkman at 7.5mm is the world's thinnest with a compact body and LCD monitor for easy operation. Music can be downloaded directly from MC/CD without a computer. Music 40 hours, video 10 hours continuous play. Compared to the original walkman it is a great leap forward.
Also, Audio Technica has released an elegantly colored headset that fits right in with street fashion. One to check out.