Sony Walkman retired

A symbol of youth is now ( finally) history:


Mashable) -- After retiring the floppy disk in March, Sony has halted the manufacture and distribution of another now-obsolete technology: the cassette Walkman, the first low-cost, portable music player.

The final batch was shipped to Japanese retailers in April, according to IT Media. Once these units are sold, new cassette Walkmans will no longer be available through the manufacturer.

The first generation Walkman (which was called the Soundabout in the U.S., and the Stowaway in the UK) was released on July 1, 1979 in Japan.

Although it later became a huge success, it only sold 3,000 units in its first month. Sony managed to sell some 200 million iterations of the cassette Walkman over the product line's 30-year career.



Somewhat ironically, the announcement was delivered just one day ahead of the iPod's ninth anniversary on October 23, although the decline of the cassette Walkman is attributed primarily to the explosive popularity of CD players in the '90s, not the iPod.

They were great back in the day...

Wow, they are just retiring them now in 2010? I woulda thought they stopped production years ago.

I still have my yellow Sony Sportsmen sitting on the shelf in the basement. Still works as far as I know.

I was surprised they were still being made also, but I remember carrying my mixed tapes and Sony Walkman everywhere I went when I was a young lad.

manny wrote:

I was surprised they were still being made also, but I remember carrying my mixed tapes and Sony Walkman everywhere I went when I was a young lad.

Yep - me too, I had no idea they were still being made. I loved those things back in the day!!! Used mine all the time - always had some Metal with me!!!!! I remember going on a church ski trip Jr year of high school and listening to Master Of Puppets the whole way up and back!!!!!

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Wow, they are just retiring them now in 2010? I woulda thought they stopped production years ago.

I still have my yellow Sony Sportsmen sitting on the shelf in the basement. Still works as far as I know.

The one with 2 headphone jacks? I had that one too. It was pretty big but awesome because my friend and I would listen to music on the bus on the way to school. Eventually I would have it stolen out of my backpack after getting into a fight with someone.

I had no idea they were still being produced myself. I thought they were done a decade ago with the advent of cd walkman and iPod. Shows how little I know.

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Wow, they are just retiring them now in 2010? I woulda thought they stopped production years ago.

I still have my yellow Sony Sportsmen sitting on the shelf in the basement. Still works as far as I know.

The one with 2 headphone jacks? I had that one too. It was pretty big but awesome because my friend and I would listen to music on the bus on the way to school. Eventually I would have it stolen out of my backpack after getting into a fight with someone.

I don't remember if it had 2 jacks or not, it might have. But it was made to be water resistant and shock-absorbent. I played many a tape on that thing in my 4 years of art school, taking public transportation. Actually that Sportsmen was probably the 3rd or 4th one that I owned.

I got my very first Sony Walkman as a conformation gift when I was in 6th grade (1983?). I still remember the picture my mom took. Red conformation robe, big puffy orange headphones. Looking back now, that thing was like lugging a brick around on your belt.

I had several sony walkmans throughout my adolescence. In fact, I still have two of them. Unfortunately, I don't use them as it has been 8 years or more since I purchased a cassette tape, and the "factory pressed" cassette albums I have have lost some of their quality.

It's sad, I actually miss some of those mix tapes I made.

RIP Sony Walkman

One more thing to remind me i'm getting old. The great thing about those, they could be a weapon if you needed it.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Wow, they are just retiring them now in 2010? I woulda thought they stopped production years ago.

I still have my yellow Sony Sportsmen sitting on the shelf in the basement. Still works as far as I know.

The one with 2 headphone jacks? I had that one too. It was pretty big but awesome because my friend and I would listen to music on the bus on the way to school. Eventually I would have it stolen out of my backpack after getting into a fight with someone.

I don't remember if it had 2 jacks or not, it might have. But it was made to be water resistant and shock-absorbent. I played many a tape on that thing in my 4 years of art school, taking public transportation. Actually that Sportsmen was probably the 3rd or 4th one that I owned.

I got my very first Sony Walkman as a conformation gift when I was in 6th grade (1983?). I still remember the picture my mom took. Red conformation robe, big puffy orange headphones. Looking back now, that thing was like lugging a brick around on your belt.

yep thats the one

RIP Walkman

May you eat someone else's tapes in all eternity!

Went through several of those over the years.

Still have a drawer with several Walkmans I've kept over the years. Too sentimentally attached to ever throw them out. They are like mementos now.

My big walkman memory is rocking out in my room late at night with the lights off. It was amazing how I could put tapes in and out, control settings, and even in those days switch to radio stations all on feel. And boy was it annoying when I got a new one and had to relearn everything.

R.I.P.