Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

A smartphone and a pair of headphones make up the "two-piece set of listening to music" for contemporary young people.

Forty years back, such a combination can be seen everywhere, but it is not a smartphone that provides music, but a Walkman.

In 1979, Sony launched the world's first Walkman device, the Walkman. For more than two decades, Walkman dominated the music market, with an average price of $150 (1079 yuan) and historically certified sales of 400 million units.

(photo Source: Sony) it can be said that in the 1980s, with a Walkman, you were the prettiest guy on the street.

Although Sony is still at a certain pace to launch the new Walkman, it has gradually disappeared from the mainstream market, after all, carrying an extra Walkman to solve the need for commuter entertainment is far less convenient than pulling out a smartphone.

In any case, Walkman has brought about a crucial revolution in the history of music development, and even in the golden age, it is worth remembering.

Falling behind, but not Walkman's fault, in the 1970s, with the development of pop music, the physical music market reached its peak.

Japan's Sony launched its first Walkman Walkman device, the Walkman-TPS-L2, a portable tape player in 1979. Not only did Sony innovate in form, but Sony also brought Mega Bass sound effects to its Walkman products, setting off a "sound revolution".

(photo Source: Sony) due to the popularity of the physical music industry, audio-visual products and storage media are also iterating rapidly. In the 1990s, many record companies tried to launch physical CD records, what we call "records" today, gradually replacing tapes. Sony launched its first portable CD player, the Discman:D-50, in 1984, and has been at the forefront of the trend.

Walkman broke away from the mainstream market, starting with the rise of digital music.

In 2001, Apple launched the original iPod as a music player that supports MP3 digital format, fitting in with the emerging digital music market at that time. In 2003, iTunes Store launched, a digital store where users can buy digital music, digital books and digital movies anytime, anywhere.

(image source: Apple Newsroom) at this time, Sony also launched the first music player that supports digital music format, NW-MS70D. Unfortunately, this Walkman does not support the increasingly popular MP3 format, only the home-developed ATRAC format. Although Sony also launched the Sony Connect online store to rival Apple's iTunes Store, it was clearly unsuccessful.

The following year, Sonny bowed his noble head to MP3 music.

In fact, with the arrival of the digital music era, its core has shifted from hardware to a new era of "content + hardware + ecological services". Although Sony has sufficient advantages in product design and hardware configuration, but it can not resist the power of Apple's "combination punch".

(photo Source: MoonAudio) Walkman is gradually moving towards professional areas. For example, WM-1Z, released in 2016, is known as the "BRICS" by many enthusiasts. IPod, which seems to be doing better in the Walkman field, officially stopped production in 2022.

Generally speaking, before the advent of the digital music era, Walkman has been leading the development of the music market, from tape, MD and then to CD, there are Walkman products in almost every stage. But with the advent of the digital music era, Sony's arrogance has led to the gradual fall of Walkman out of the mainstream.

Amazing innovation, Walkman has been so "crazy" as Sony's once "pillar" product, Walkman has been a strong innovation for more than 20 years before being left behind.

Among the classics, we have to mention Sony's first Walkman. In the film Guardians of the Galaxy, TPS-L2 returns to the public with the relics left by his mother, the hero "Star Lord". The 40-year-old Walkman has become popular again.

(photo Source: the Guardian of the Galaxy) the existence of Walkman TPS-L2 is synonymous with innovation and revolution, and its historical significance is self-evident.

In 1994, Sony launched the Walkman Walkman to mark the 15th anniversary of its birth. The device has an original vertical battery compartment design that can play music for 36 hours continuously and even supports 25x fast forward / rewind. It can be said that WM-EX1 is the heart of enthusiastic music lovers.

In the last century, many digital product designs and ideas were able to jump out of the box and materialize many sufficiently novel features, although these designs may not be "smart" in the current perspective, but they are still amazing enough. For example, WM-WE01.

WM-WE01 is a Walkman with the impact of the times. In product positioning, it is a portable tape player, but supports wireless remote control, wireless headphones and wireless radio functions. As Bluetooth technology was not mature in 1999, Sony used radio frequency technology to meet the demand for "wireless".

(photo Source: Sony) in the era of digital music, the Sony Walkman NW-HD1 is definitely on the list. The biggest feature of this MP3 Walkman device, which was released in 2004, is the large storage space of the built-in 20GB, and its battery life can easily exceed 30 hours.

(photo Source: satouchi) in addition, there are NW-E505 inspired by women's lipstick, NWD-W273 integrated with wireless headphones, and NWZ-ZX1 with Android operating system. These products reflect Sony's boundless imagination and creativity in the small product of the Walkman.

Is there still a chance for the Walkman in the age of intelligence? It is generally believed that iPod has built an intelligent ecology for Apple to lay a solid foundation in the music market, and even affects it to this day. When Jobs unveiled the first iPhone, he described it as an iPod with a phone function and Internet connection.

Sony also paved the way for Walkman to enter the smart age early, but unfortunately it was not very successful.

As we mentioned earlier, Walkman didn't support MP3 audio at first, so Sony designed the Sony Connect online store for it, but MP3 eventually dominated the mainstream, and Sony's big game was over before it was finished. Then, with the rise of smartphones, Sony immediately came up with new ideas.

In 2005, Sony Ericsson, the mobile phone business brand of Sony, released the W800C, the first mobile phone with Walkman function. Subsequently, the Walkman frequently appeared in the new phones launched by Sony Ericsson, which has become a major feature of the brand.

(photo Source: Sony) but in fact, the Walkman does not perform very well on most models, which affects the sound quality of the Walkman for mobile phone users.

Walkman did not play a specialty in the mobile phone field, so Sony simply created a "smart Walkman"-- NW-Z1000. This Walkman equipped with Android system, supports downloading music through the Internet, listening to music online, OTA upgrade system, playability is still very rich.

(photo Source: Sony) most of the current Walkman Walkman has been equipped with Android system, with the rise of streaming music platform, streaming sound quality has been greatly improved, music enthusiasts also have a better choice.

In the more than 40 years since the birth of Walkman, music has gradually become an indispensable entertainment in people's lives, but unfortunately, today's users no longer need to rely on the "Walkman" to enrich their lives.

(photo Source: Sony) but it is undeniable that from tape and MD to later CD and digital music, Walkman has made the greatest efforts at every stage of the development of the music market, and has completed a magnificent turn from daily entertainment consumption to professional music equipment. At this stage, Walkman is still the best choice for music enthusiasts who pursue quality music and the ultimate sense of hearing.

Walkman can not be said to be abandoned by the times, but no longer suited to the daily habits of mainstream consumers, in the more professional audio field, Sony is still shining.

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: Lei Technology (ID:leitech), author: Lei Tech Digital 3C Group

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