Goodbye Walkman!

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Sony announced on Monday that it is shutting down production of the Walkman. Talk about ending with a whimper: Who knew that portable cassette players were still being made at all?
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Okay, it’s not digital, it’s not cool but I always liked my Walkman. First, even now that MP3 players come with FM radio (most) the batteries run down in about two hours.
Second, how much music can you listen to at a stretch? Yeah, it’s really, really cool to have 4, or 8, or a jillion gigs all on your iDevice, but really. One cassette in the Walkman, a couple in your backpack or car should see you back home to your collection.

Last, I’m not going to pay for the same music all over again, if I can help it. I have cassettes that are still good ten years or older.
Sadly, my Walkman which had survived my dropping several times finally bear the nth time, though the radio kept working.

Farewell, Walkman! I now have your digital grandson, but you were the first.
 
I remember when I got my first (and only) Walman. I stuck in a cassette and was BLOWN AWAY by the stereo!! Sounds going from the right ear to the left ear and back again! It was revolutionary!!

Now, thanks to mp3, you can get a reduced quality song. It’s like as technology progesses forward, the quality of the sound goes down. How ironic.

Of course with the state of music nowadays, I don’t think I’m missing out.
 
It seems that the announcement of the death of Walkman may be premature.
But as it turns out, that meant only that the player would no longer be sold in its home country of Japan, according to a Sony spokesman who didn’t want to be named because he was not authorized to speak on this matter.
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He said he could not comment at all on why sales of the hand-held device, which took the world by storm starting in 1979, were being halted in Japan. However, the cassette-playing Walkman, he said, will continue to be available elsewhere, including in the United States.
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latimes.com/business/la-fi-sony-walkman-20101026,0,3948203.story

But look at the size of the original! :o
 
Sometimes I blame mp3 for the quality, sometimes I blame middle-aged ears.
 
didymus said:
%between%First, even now that MP3 players come with FM radio (most) the batteries run down in about two hours.
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I’d like to know which brand the author is referring to. Even with a cheap little $20 mp3 player my batteries would last at least 3 times that long. 🤷
 
Kaninchen said:
Sometimes I blame mp3 for the quality, sometimes I blame middle-aged ears.
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Instead, blame the headphones. Get a decent set of skullcandy’s (pay the $50) and you will be very impressed.

Especially if you listen to the old stuff like I do that has lots of stereophonic play (Pink Floyd, The Doors, The Who, etc.) Most of the new music isnt worth the plastic its printed on (cd’s) but the old stuff… is still awesome.
 
What’s a cassette? :confused:

Just kidding. 😉

I enjoyed the Walkman back in the day, but I enjoy it’s progeny the iPod much more. 🙂
 
FidesSpesCarita said:
Instead, blame the headphones. Get a decent set of skullcandy’s (pay the $50) and you will be very impressed.

Especially if you listen to the old stuff like I do that has lots of stereophonic play (Pink Floyd, The Doors, The Who, etc.) Most of the new music isnt worth the plastic its printed on (cd’s) but the old stuff… is still awesome.
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It was a joke!

Actually, I have pretty good earphones but I’m mainly into audio books at the moment so it’s a bit of a waste.
 
Dale_M said:
It seems that the announcement of the death of Walkman may be premature.

latimes.com/business/la-fi-sony-walkman-20101026,0,3948203.story

But look at the size of the original! :o
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Nah it’s just a really small human holding it.😉 Seriously though, I still have my walkman and my portable cd player, and I think the sound quality is better than ipod.

Just like the record player, they said they would quit making them, but they still make them.
 
exoflare said:
I’d like to know which brand the author is referring to. Even with a cheap little $20 mp3 player my batteries would last at least 3 times that long. 🤷
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Truthful I have no idea where I got the 2 hrs from – just know the little status bar plummets & I figure I better recharge quick. Mp3s otoh I can play 16 hrs at least.

I’d wonder why it’s so much more energy to convert waves than bits into sounds.
 
As for how long it takes the batteries to run out, it might also make a difference how high or low you typically keep the volume, but I have no idea how much. That may have something to do with it since I’ve always had unusually sensitive hearing and I do notice that most people tend to turn up their radios/headsets or whatever else up to noticeably higher volumes than I find sufficient.
 
FidesSpesCarita said:
Most of the new music isnt worth the plastic its printed on (cd’s) but the old stuff… is still awesome.
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Ugh CDs. Worst thing to ever happen to music. Quote should be reversed. CDs aren’t worth the music they host!

I’ll take Vinyl, digital downloads AND cassettes over CDs any day. Totally regret replacing my cassette player with a CD player.
 
No way. CD’s are FAR better than cassettes. If you had a GOOD turntable and stylus, you got better sound out of vinyl (no digital ‘chirp’). But no cassette sounded as good as a decently mastered CD.

Even high end cassettes with Dolby C lost a LOT of top end clarity. Which I have trouble hearing well anyways, so it always bugged me.
 
I like cassettes better than cds because, while the sound might not be as good, I’ve never scratched a cassette. You stare at a compact disc for six seconds and the thing gets a scratch.

Good quality sound (not nearly as good as vinyl), but CDs are way too delicate.
 
Enough with the rose colored glasses! I can’t count how many tapes I’ve seen eaten by car tape decks.

And for fragile, NOTHING beats vinyl. Laboratory conditions, vinyls beats CD on sound quality. Real life conditions owned by humans, CDs hold up to abuse FAR better than vinyl.

Ever see a sleeve of 45rpm records strapped to a car’s sun visor? Me neither! 😃
 
LOL if you can find a car record player, sign me up! I think it’s much easier to keep vinyl in good condition. Easier to handle, easier to store. I never have problems with my records getting scratched up. CDs on the other hand, I think I’ve only bought two in the last four years because the scratching drives me nuts.
 
I must admit I’ve quit buying too.

All that used to be fun money is poured into the kiddie’s tuition funds these days (present and future!).
 
celticsfan1983 said:
LOL if you can find a car record player, sign me up! I think it’s much easier to keep vinyl in good condition. Easier to handle, easier to store. I never have problems with my records getting scratched up. CDs on the other hand, I think I’ve only bought two in the last four years because the scratching drives me nuts.
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You need to get this stuff that buffs out the scratches. They used to drive me crazy too, but this stuff is magic. You just rub in in with a soft rag and polish it off when dry - then voila! good as new. You can find in in any CD store.
 
You get a cookie if you can spot the dig at Christianity in the original article. I think it’s amazing they found a way to bash us in an article about the Walkman.
 
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