Walkman to iPod: portable music evolution

June 29, 1:34 PMSF Technology ExaminerNicholas Amoroso

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Congratulations are in order. Why? Sony Walkman was launched 30 years ago this week (July 1, 1979). What better way to celebrate the 30th birthday of our old friend than to show it, and the many reinventions of it off leading up until the masses succumbed to the current iPod fever.

Walkman
The Sony Walkman came in many incarnations over the years. It was a small novel on a belt clip in the beginning of its life, but it made a major impact as the iPod of its day. Adults and children alike clamored for a chance to own or even use one. Sound familiar?

Features:
-Pause
-Stop
-Rewind (if you were lucky)
-Fast-forward
-A & B headphone ports for two listeners
-Volume adjustment knob
-Belt clip
-Compulsory access to battery compartment every ~3 hours
-Change from side A to B on the cassette manually or automatically

CD Walkman (Discman)
The CD Walkman, or Discman as it is now called, was released in November 1984 as the D-50. This irresistible square brought digital music to our pockets. It later featured something that I would have never made it through school without. That is Electronic Skip Protection (ESP) or G-Protection. I remember taking those bus rides with a small 15 second buffer that could either absorb that pot hole and deliver me to the bliss of my music bubble or send me spiraling down with the sounds of Montell Jordan saying, "This is how we do it... This is how we... This is how we... This is how we...".

Features:
-Mostly one side to play music from
-Varying levels of ESP or G-Protection from nil to near infinite
-Spinning disc of doom in the palm of your hand
-Not exercise friendly
-High quality music

Video Walkman
If you thought that your precious video iPod was an innovation, then you missed out on the Video Walkman back in '89.

Features:
-Video 8 format cassettes
-TV receiver for VHF and UHF channels
-3 inch color screen
-Doubled as a light workout tool at 2.5 pounds
-Input/output ports
-45 to 60 minute battery life (enough to catch an episode or two of the Cosby Show)

MiniDisc Walkman
The MiniDisc Walkman could arguably be the last release before the iPod took a stranglehold on the digital music player market. MiniDiscs were then and are now still somewhat of a novelty in the U.S. Ask yourself how many people you knew that owned a MiniDisc Walkman. Few, if any, right?

Features:
-2/3 size of a traditional CD
-roughly the same 74 minute storage capacity as a CD
-near CD quality
-Proprietary ATRAC compression
-Original MZ-1 device was also a good workout weight or a brick that could be tossed through a window with an affixed ransom note

Other Devices
Subsequent releases included the Network Walkmans, HDD Walkmans, Walkman MP3 players, and Walkman Video MP3 players. Unfortunately few have been able to make any strides in the digital music market against the overwhelming popularity of the iPod. Be that as it may, I would still like to imagine that we would not be where we are now without Sony popularizing the portable music player. So think what you like about Sony, but you may just owe some of your music enjoyment to their 30 year old cassette munching friend.



For more info: e-mail me at technic.amoroso@gmail.com