Wednesday, April 24, 2024
ADVT 
India

Happy 40th Birthday: Tokyo Exhibit Evokes Walkman Nostalgia

Darpan News Desk IANS, 19 Jul, 2019 09:06 PM

    Walking on the street and, at the same time, listening to music was inconceivable until the appearance of Walkman, a small audio player that introduced the revolutionary concept of portable music that charmed the world 40 years ago.


    A retrospective exhibition in Tokyo's Ginza Sony Park goes over the history of Sony's cassette player that changed the way people listened to music, decades before the emergence of digital music and online platforms.


    "When I bought my Walkman, using my allowance, I was so happy I could burst. I even wore headphones in the bath and on the dining table. My mother would scold me," recalls architect Nobuo Araki in a text that is a part of the exhibition being held in the months of July and August.


    Like Araki, dozens of Japanese celebrities have lent their memoirs for this interactive exhibit that allows attendees to read their stories and listen to the same music as them through different models of the iconic cassette player, Efe news reported.


    With the Walkman's launch in 1979, Sony introduced the concept that listening to music was no longer something that had to be experienced indoors, it could be personalized and carried everywhere.


    "Walkman is the brand that creates the culture of bringing music out from home, and younger people can enjoy music outside due to Walkman. They can enjoy music more easily," Ryoichi Numata of Sony's communications team told Efe news.


    The blue and silver model TPS-L2 was released on July 1, 1979 in Japan at a price of around 39,000 yen, which at the time amounted to about $180, and sold more than 50,000 units in its first two months.


    A second version of this model ended up becoming the best-selling version in Walkman's history, selling more than two million units worldwide.


    The exhibition traces the history of the famous device from its release into the market, through its adaptation to the CD and the MiniDisc, and concluding with the more recent models using digital reproduction.


    A display case showcases some 230 Walkman models that have gone on sale, some of them as iconic as the Walkman Sports WM-B52, known for its distinctive yellow color, as well as other lesser known ones.


    "It is a very important brand to us, and we are still producing the Walkman," said Numata. Currently, Sony's focus is on improving the quality of musical experience.


    With high-resolution audio, up to 256 gigabytes of internal memory, and a price of more than 3,000 euros, the WM1Z produced in 2016 has come a long way since the days of cassettes, and is aimed at a more select audience.


    After a run of three decades and having sold more than 200 million units worldwide, in 2010, Sony withdrew the Walkman's cassette player from the market, unable to survive the competition posed first by the CD and then digital music.


    While portable music is a pleasure we have all enjoyed for years, Sony seeks to bring the nostalgia that is evoked when one is made to hark back to their old Walkman and relive those years when leaving home with headphones was a privilege.

     

    MORE India ARTICLES

    UP Man Entered House To Avoid Stray Dogs, Mistaken For Thief And Set On Fire: Police

    Kumar sustained burn injuries on his back and was rushed to Civil Hospital, Lucknow.

    UP Man Entered House To Avoid Stray Dogs, Mistaken For Thief And Set On Fire: Police

    Indian-American Adoptive Father Of Sherin Mathews Challenges Life Term, Seeks New Trial

    The man was sentenced on June 26 over his daughter's death in October 2017 after pleading guilty to a lesser charge of injury to a child by omission. 

    Indian-American Adoptive Father Of Sherin Mathews Challenges Life Term, Seeks New Trial

    2008 Scarlett Keeling Case: Bombay HC Awards 10-year Jail Term To Goa Beach Shack Worker Samson D’Souza

    The Bombay High Court in Goa on Friday, more than a decade later, convicted Samson D'Souza to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.

    2008 Scarlett Keeling Case: Bombay HC Awards 10-year Jail Term To Goa Beach Shack Worker Samson D’Souza

    Gone Too Soon: TV Actors Mourn The Accident Death Of 'Sasural Simar Ka' Child Actor Shivlekh Singh

    The news of child actor Shivlekh Singh’s demise in a car accident has left the television industry saddened and shocked. 

    Gone Too Soon: TV Actors Mourn The Accident Death Of 'Sasural Simar Ka' Child Actor Shivlekh Singh

    'Humka Maafi De Diyo': Dharmendra Says Sorry After Trolling Hema Malini

    Veteran actor Dharmendra has apologised on social media after trolling his wife and BJP politician Hema Malini.    

    'Humka Maafi De Diyo': Dharmendra Says Sorry After Trolling Hema Malini

    ‘Uncle Nelson Told Me I Ought To Be In Politics’: Priyanka Gandhi On Nelson Mandela’s 101st Birth Anniversary

    Priyanka made her political debut in January when Congress appointed her general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East.  

    ‘Uncle Nelson Told Me I Ought To Be In Politics’: Priyanka Gandhi On Nelson Mandela’s 101st Birth Anniversary