Before diving into tech specs and our first experiences with SONY’s new WF-1000XM3 truly wireless headphones, let’s take a trip down memory lane.
Earlier this month, SONY celebrated a very special 40th birthday for one of its most famous devices. Released July 1 1979, the SONY Walkman revolutionised the audio industry and the way that people listened to music forever, with the freedom to easily enjoy high quality music anywhere, anytime. As much as anything, the SONY Walkman symbolises the cultural birth and evolution of mobile music – something it’s easy to take for granted in 2019. Since the original TPS-L2 was released, SONY have sold hundreds of millions of Walkmans. The body of that first device was a metallic blue to go with the sweeping global trend of blue denim jeans and marks SONY’s shift in product design towards a more casual and fashionable aesthetic. Despite initial concerns about the device’s lack of a recording function, the Walkman quickly became one of the most sought after consumer items on the market, right alongside rollerblades and the digital watch.
Such was the rise of cassette tapes – in no small part thanks to the success of the SONY Walkman – that sales eventually eclipsed that of vinyl records in 1983. And, while many people were buying albums in cassette form, it also sparked a movement of music lovers happy to spend their hours meticulously plotting and planning their own perfect compilation mixtapes. Or if you were like Grandmaster Flash (who used to charge $1 a minute for customised party tapes, making “a couple thousand dollars a month, easy”), there was a quick buck to be made bootlegging, too. A year later in 1984, SONY launched their first portable CD player, the Walkman D-50. Released in two colourways (black as well as a sleek red edition), SONY ventured further into the category of must-have fashion accessory. This trend of offering colourful iterations continued throughout the Walkman’s lineage with bright and vibrant colourways offered in each new SKU, including the legendary submarine yellow, splash-proof WM-F5.
As music, fashion and pop culture evolved, so too did the the Walkman and SONY continued to incorporate these design cues into their audio-engineering feats. From mini-discs to MP3s and eventually, music streaming and high-resolution audio, the changing digital and consumer landscape has turned out Walkman’s in all shapes and sizes. So, as the Walkman turns 40, why not get nostalgic and enjoy some of SONY’s most iconic models in the short anniversary movie below:
As announced earlier this week, we’ve been in Tokyo as part of the celebrations for the release of SONY’s new WF-1000XM3 in-ear headphones. Stay tuned, we’ve got about nine hours worth of noise-cancelling truly wireless listening to look forward to on the trip home and will be reporting back real soon.
