SAHC: A Requiem for the Walkman

I think this started my gadget fascination. I was in 3rd yr high school when the Walkman was launched locally methinks. Gerry was one of the first to have one. I was drooling over it. He had a model newer than the one on the pic. I was amazed at how stereophonic actually sounds. when i wore those headphones, i was immersed totally in music. and back then, that included listening to new wave and xanadu.

and as much as i craved for it, it wasnt until a year after when i got mine. and i got this model, a bigger version but still portable. i loved it. beyond buying cassettes, i started combining songs by recording from vinyl, in effect, the precursor of the playlist. eventually, that became full of Madonna remixes.

now i read that sony has discontinued production. my first reaction: didnt they do that years ago with the advent of CD? i guess not as they officially close production of the Walkman just this oct.

my walkman gave me so many good memories. of sleeping late at night with the volume at 10. of passing time without getting bored, inside a bus or waiting for someone. of isolating myself and indulging in emo music, shedding tears looking at a rainy sky.

i do all that now, with the ipod and all its incarnations. so much that i have taken it for granted. that just so many years back, i didnt have that luxury.

i am reminded of the feeling, of the joy. goodbye, Walkman.

Sony ceases production of Walkman
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS • October 25, 2010

NEW YORK — The Walkman, the Sony cassette device that forever changed music listening before becoming outdated by digital MP3 players and iPods, has died. It was 31 years old.

Sony announced Monday that it has ceased production of the classic, cassette tape Walkman in Japan, effectively sounding the death knell of the once iconic, now obsolete device.

The Walkman is survived by the Discman (still clinging to life) and ironic music listeners who think using a Walkman in this day-and-age is charmingly out-of-touch.

It will continue to be produced in China and distributed in the U.S., Europe and some Asian countries. Digital Walkmans are also being made with models that display lyrics and have improved digital noise-canceling technology.

Still, if you're looking to chisel a date in the Walkman's tombstone, then Oct. 25, 2010, is as good as any. For many, that it's taken this long is surprising: "They were still making those?" Perhaps Oct. 23, 2001, the day the iPod was launched, is the better date of expiration.

But none of the success of Apple's portable music players would have ever happened without the cassette Walkman. Some 220 million have been sold since the first model, the TPS-L2, debuted in July 1979. (It retailed for $200.) At the time, transistor radios were portable, but there was nothing widely available like the Walkman.