This archive report was first published on 11 August 2019.
Hit rewind: Sony Walkman triggers nostalgia on 40th birthday ¶
On July 1, 1979, Sony revolutionized the music industry with the release of the Walkman TPS-L2, a device that would become synonymous with portable music.
Initially priced at 33,000 yen ($300 in today's money), the first-generation Walkman could not record, but its stereo music playback function quickly captured hearts in Japan and then the world.
The device featured two headset jacks, labelled 'guys' and 'dolls', allowing two people to listen simultaneously, and a bright orange 'hotline' button to lower the volume while chatting.
Despite a slow start, with only 3,000 units sold in the first month, sales eventually skyrocketed to 1.5 million worldwide for the first model, and 2.58 million for the second model, the WM-2.
Over the next four decades, Sony sold over 420 million Walkmans, stopping production at the 1,000th model, about 15 years ago.
The name 'Walkman' was chosen partly due to the popularity of Superman at the time and the fact it was based on an existing audio recorder called the 'Pressman'.
As an 11-year-old, Katsuya Kumagai, now 51, could never afford a Walkman and envied older children as they whizzed by on roller skates plugged into the latest sounds.
"The Walkman is my youth," Kumagai said, browsing an exhibition to mark the 40th anniversary of the first edition.
"It was always in my life," he added, scanning some of the 230 varieties of Walkman on show, which also offered nostalgic visitors the chance to play with some of the older models.
As an industry, Sony continued production of the cassette-tape Walkman until 2010, long after the technology had been overtaken by the Compact Disc in the 1980s and the MiniDisc Walkman in 1992.
However, the emergence of Apple's iPod in the early 2000s shook the industry, and Sony scrambled to keep up, releasing high-end versions that cost well over $2,000 and looked more like a smartphone.
But despite the advancements in technology, the old Walkman has stood the test of time, with a first edition Walkman selling recently for 1.3 million yen, 40 times its initial price.
