Sony Ends Production of Walkman

[Two Thumbs]

Sony Ends Production of Walkman - The Hollywood Reporter

3:24 AM 10/25/2010 by Kimberly Nordyke

Move comes a day before the ninth anniversary of the iPod; 200 million units of device were sold over 30-plus years.
It's the end of an era: Sony has announced that it plans to stop manufacturing and selling its cassette-based Walkman, according to Gizmodo.

Incidentally, the last day of the Walkman's production was Friday, the day before the iPod celebrated its ninth anniversary.

The Walkman, which is credited with changing the way people were able to listen to music, was built in 1978 by audio-division engineer Nobutoshi Kihara for Sony co-chairman Akio Morita, who wanted to be able to listen to operas during his frequent trans-Pacific plane trips.

The device wasn't an instant hit, but Sony kept marketing the product toward younger consumers, and it eventually caught on, selling 200 million units over 30-plus years.

Once CDs hit the marketplace, the Walkman went out of favor by consumers, who first gravitated to Sony's own Discman and other CD-based portable and, later, iPods.

When you saw that headline. Did you think; "They were STILL making walkmans?" Or was that just me?

 

[martybegan]

Suprised it lasted this long.

 

[American Horse]

I went on the internet a few months back and bought 5 of them for future stock. The SRF59 was the best. It would stay powered up for a month with daily useage on one AA battery. Today I can't buy a headset anywhere near the price of the SRF which comes with its own good quality headset. One of the SRF59s, descended from the SRF19, the unit I began buying about 1986 has always been in my shirt pocket. I had to give up wearing pocketless sweat shirts to work in.

Sony's SRF-59SILVER Walkman® AM/FM Stereo Radio is so lightweight you can take it virtually anywhere. Featuring AM/FM Stereo Tuner and an Easy to Use Tuning Knob, this Walkman lets you to enjoy a wide range of talk and music programs in stereo sound as you tune in to stations with ease. Single "AA" Battery Operation provides hours of listening, while the Local/Distant Switch provides optimal reception of both near and distant stations. The SRF-59SILVER -- great sound in a small package.
Features

AM/FM Stereo Tuner
Convenient Compact Design
MDR Open Air Stereo Headphones
Local/Distant (DX) Switch
Single "AA" Battery Operation
Belt Clip
Specifications
AM/FM Stereo Tuner lets you enjoy a wide range of talk and music programming with the added enjoyment of stereo sound
Convenient Compact Design is lightweight so you can take along your Walkman. personal stereo virtually anywhere
Easy to Use Tuning Knob helps you tune in stations quickly and easily
Single "AA" Battery Operation provides hours of listening, and helps to make the radio compact and inexpensive to use
Local/Distant (DX) Switch provides optimal reception of both near and distant stations
Stereo Headphones Supplied are Sony MDR (Micro Dynamic Receiver) Open Air type for wide dynamic range and excellent sound
Belt Clip Supplied helps ensure quick and sure attachment to a belt, and lets you "wear" your Walkman during activities
Antenna uses the headphone cord for FM reception and ferrite bar antenna for AM
Frequency Range: FM: 87.5-108MHz, AM: 530-1710kHz
Antenna System: FM: Headphone cord, AM: Ferrite bar antenna
Output: Headphones (stereo mini jack)
Power Requirement: "AA" x 1 battery
Color: Silver
Supplied Accessories
MDR Open Air Stereo Headphones, Belt Clip
Weight
Approx. 3 oz. (84 g) including battery and belt clip
Dimensions
(WxHxD): 2 1/2" x 3 5/8" x 1" (63 x 92.9 x 26.2mm)
Warranty
90Days

 

[Madeline]

News like this makes me feel hopelessly out of date. I was still debating buying one!

 

[elvis]

I remember when I got my first walkman when I was a kid..... I thought it was the coolest...

 

[Two Thumbs]

I went on the internet a few months back and bought 5 of them for future stock. The SRF59 was the best. It would stay powered up for a month with daily useage on one AA battery. Today I can't buy a headset anywhere near the price of the SRF which comes with its own good quality headset. One of the SRF59s, descended from the SRF19, the unit I began buying about 1986 has always been in my shirt pocket. I had to give up wearing pocketless sweat shirts to work in.

Sony's SRF-59SILVER Walkman® AM/FM Stereo Radio is so lightweight you can take it virtually anywhere. Featuring AM/FM Stereo Tuner and an Easy to Use Tuning Knob, this Walkman lets you to enjoy a wide range of talk and music programs in stereo sound as you tune in to stations with ease. Single "AA" Battery Operation provides hours of listening, while the Local/Distant Switch provides optimal reception of both near and distant stations. The SRF-59SILVER -- great sound in a small package.
Features

AM/FM Stereo Tuner
Convenient Compact Design
MDR Open Air Stereo Headphones
Local/Distant (DX) Switch
Single "AA" Battery Operation
Belt Clip
Specifications
AM/FM Stereo Tuner lets you enjoy a wide range of talk and music programming with the added enjoyment of stereo sound
Convenient Compact Design is lightweight so you can take along your Walkman. personal stereo virtually anywhere
Easy to Use Tuning Knob helps you tune in stations quickly and easily
Single "AA" Battery Operation provides hours of listening, and helps to make the radio compact and inexpensive to use
Local/Distant (DX) Switch provides optimal reception of both near and distant stations
Stereo Headphones Supplied are Sony MDR (Micro Dynamic Receiver) Open Air type for wide dynamic range and excellent sound
Belt Clip Supplied helps ensure quick and sure attachment to a belt, and lets you "wear" your Walkman during activities
Antenna uses the headphone cord for FM reception and ferrite bar antenna for AM
Frequency Range: FM: 87.5-108MHz, AM: 530-1710kHz
Antenna System: FM: Headphone cord, AM: Ferrite bar antenna
Output: Headphones (stereo mini jack)
Power Requirement: "AA" x 1 battery
Color: Silver
Supplied Accessories
MDR Open Air Stereo Headphones, Belt Clip
Weight
Approx. 3 oz. (84 g) including battery and belt clip
Dimensions
(WxHxD): 2 1/2" x 3 5/8" x 1" (63 x 92.9 x 26.2mm)
Warranty
90Days

Now here is a man that understands; "If it aint broke, don't fix it!"

And yes, "ear buds" suck and cost more than walkmans.

 

[Two Thumbs]

I remember when I got my first walkman when I was a kid..... I thought it was the coolest...

Strapped mine to my waistline and went strutting around town like I was the coolest thing since "The Fonz".

 

[American Horse]

I went on the internet a few months back and bought 5 of them for future stock. The SRF59 was the best. It would stay powered up for a month with daily useage on one AA battery. Today I can't buy a headset anywhere near the price of the SRF which comes with its own good quality headset. One of the SRF59s, descended from the SRF19, the unit I began buying about 1986 has always been in my shirt pocket. I had to give up wearing pocketless sweat shirts to work in.

Sony's SRF-59SILVER Walkman® AM/FM Stereo Radio is so lightweight you can take it virtually anywhere. Featuring AM/FM Stereo Tuner and an Easy to Use Tuning Knob, this Walkman lets you to enjoy a wide range of talk and music programs in stereo sound as you tune in to stations with ease. Single "AA" Battery Operation provides hours of listening, while the Local/Distant Switch provides optimal reception of both near and distant stations. The SRF-59SILVER -- great sound in a small package.
Features

AM/FM Stereo Tuner
Convenient Compact Design
MDR Open Air Stereo Headphones
Local/Distant (DX) Switch
Single "AA" Battery Operation
Belt Clip
Specifications
AM/FM Stereo Tuner lets you enjoy a wide range of talk and music programming with the added enjoyment of stereo sound
Convenient Compact Design is lightweight so you can take along your Walkman. personal stereo virtually anywhere
Easy to Use Tuning Knob helps you tune in stations quickly and easily
Single "AA" Battery Operation provides hours of listening, and helps to make the radio compact and inexpensive to use
Local/Distant (DX) Switch provides optimal reception of both near and distant stations
Stereo Headphones Supplied are Sony MDR (Micro Dynamic Receiver) Open Air type for wide dynamic range and excellent sound
Belt Clip Supplied helps ensure quick and sure attachment to a belt, and lets you "wear" your Walkman during activities
Antenna uses the headphone cord for FM reception and ferrite bar antenna for AM
Frequency Range: FM: 87.5-108MHz, AM: 530-1710kHz
Antenna System: FM: Headphone cord, AM: Ferrite bar antenna
Output: Headphones (stereo mini jack)
Power Requirement: "AA" x 1 battery
Color: Silver
Supplied Accessories
MDR Open Air Stereo Headphones, Belt Clip
Weight
Approx. 3 oz. (84 g) including battery and belt clip
Dimensions
(WxHxD): 2 1/2" x 3 5/8" x 1" (63 x 92.9 x 26.2mm)
Warranty
90Days

Now here is a man that understands; "If it aint broke, don't fix it!"

And yes, "ear buds" suck and cost more than walkmans.

I'm sad to see it be discontinued. I bought an IPOD, but I don't have time to downoad, and I least of all don't want to have to make choices about selecting programming I won't be listening to until the next day.

And you're right about earbuds; and right now the cost of a headset is more than the entire SRF59 complete with headset ($14.95) and which are more bulky and less useable.

 

[Baruch Menachem]

The local science museum has a display of things that were cutting edge tech when they were new that no one ever sees any more.

things as varied as button hooks and IBM cards and paper tape.

but for its time, the walkman was the very laser's edge of cool.

 

[Two Thumbs]

The local science museum has a display of things that were cutting edge tech when they were new that no one ever sees any more.

things as varied as button hooks and IBM cards and paper tape.

but for its time, the walkman was the very laser's edge of cool.

My parents had a windup Victrola (?) with a HUGE stack of records that played on it. Volumn control was altered by how wide open the "speaker" doors were.

Bet it would still work.

 

[masquerade]

When you saw that headline. Did you think; "They were STILL making walkmans?" Or was that just me?

Yes!
And no!

Big and yellow and bulky. Damn. I carried that thing around everywhere!

 

[Two Thumbs]

When you saw that headline. Did you think; "They were STILL making walkmans?" Or was that just me?

Yes!
And no!

Big and yellow and bulky. Damn. I carried that thing around everywhere!

Yeah, but the yellow made people think it was water-proof.

It wasn't

But that wasn't the point. Looking cool was.

 

[masquerade]

When you saw that headline. Did you think; "They were STILL making walkmans?" Or was that just me?

Yes!
And no!

Big and yellow and bulky. Damn. I carried that thing around everywhere!

Yeah, but the yellow made people think it was water-proof.

It wasn't

But that wasn't the point. Looking cool was.

Along with having my tunes everywhere I went!
I graduated to a Discman and then ... my iPod.

 

[Two Thumbs]

Yes!
And no!

Big and yellow and bulky. Damn. I carried that thing around everywhere!

Yeah, but the yellow made people think it was water-proof.

It wasn't

But that wasn't the point. Looking cool was.

Along with having my tunes everywhere I went!
I graduated to a Discman and then ... my iPod.

I got a discman, it skipped so much I had to go get a new walkman. iPod is just too much like work just for some tunes.

 

[masquerade]

At the start, yes. iPod's can be a lot of work. Especially when it comes to downloading disc after disc after song after song into iTunes. But once you have your library set up, it's as easy as plugging in the USB. Sync and charge and you're on your way!

My son recently downloaded my entire library of music into my new smartphone. No need for my iPod anymore, but I just can't seem to part with it.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

I didn't realize they still made Walkmans.

 

[Emeraldgreen]

walkmans were great back in the day, but I am surprised that it did not die much sooner.