Sony Cassette Walkman R.I.P

Oh dear, it’s come to this; the Sony Cassette Walkman passed away quietly on the 22nd October 2010. It had been ill for quite some time, death row you might say, but I for one will miss it. Sure, if you are under the age of about 30 you probably just won't understand, but before the Walkman, personal, portable, music simply did not exist. It was either a ghetto blaster or a transistor radio jammed up against your ear. Put simply, it was a revelation. It may seem clunky now but it was cutting-edge stuff back in 1979 I can tell you. In fact, what really made the Walkman usable was not the cassette player itself but the headphones that came with it. Before the TPS-L2 (the original designation for the Walkman/Soundabout/Stowaway) headphones were truly enormous and massively heavy - I know, I've still got a pair! With the new MDR-3L2 you could do things like, walk or even run without them falling off - unthinkable before!

As with all things, technology has moved on and most of us now no longer use cassettes. I remember seeing someone on holiday last year still using a cassette Walkman. They were viewed by most people as being rather eccentric. However, they did have a very good reason for owning and using one; the lady in question was listening to an audio book and had unfortunately lost her sight. This of course did not stop her operating a cassette Walkman. It would, however, stop her from using an MP3 player or iPod...

This is my own TPS-L2. Before Sony decided to use the Walkman name they experimented with a couple of others; "Soundabout" and "Stowaway". It even came with a demo Sony Mix Tape! Ever since I got my Walkman/Stowaway I have loved Hideki Matsutake and KI Capsule's electronic version of "Diamonds Are Forever"!

Download Hideki Matsutake and KI Capsule here