| Mario Beauregard Beaustock/ Alamy Stock Photo | | Sony Walkman Goes on Sale |  | July 1, 1979 | On July 1, 1979, the first Sony Walkman went on sale in Japan for 30,000 yen, the equivalent of $150 American dollars. The legend goes that Sony's co-founder Masaru Ibuka grew tired of packing a big cassette recorder with him on long, international flights to listen to his beloved opera. So, he had his team design a portable, stylish cassette player. It wasn't a particularly new technology, but it was repackaged as cool and convenient. They even colored it blue-silver to match denim, a hot fashion in the late 1970s.
Despite low expectations, the Walkman sold like hotcakes, and eventually the trend made its way to America. The stylish Walkman became the standard bearer for listening to music on the go and a status symbol. The device left its impression on tastemakers like Andy Warhol, Hollywood, and teenagers everywhere. Eventually, cassettes were overtaken by compact discs and the Walkman became Discman. Sony finally stopped production of its portable cassette player in 2010, nearly a decade after the release of the iPod — a device Steve Jobs once called "the 21st-century Walkman."
| |
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home