CBC Radio 3 Blog - How Does a 30-Year-Old Sony Walkman Hold Up Against an iPod?

How Does a 30-Year-Old Sony Walkman Hold Up Against an iPod?

Posted by John Paolozzi on Jun 29, 2009

With the Sony Walkman coming up on its 30th birthday this week (!!!) BBC Magazine invited 13-year-old Scott Campbell to swap his iPod Touch for a first generation Walkman for a week. Hilarity ensues:

"It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape. That was not the only naive mistake that I made; I mistook the metal/normal switch on the Walkman for a genre-specific equaliser, but later I discovered that it was in fact used to switch between two different types of cassette."

Read all about Scott's experience with a primitive culture.

Comments

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01

Did they ever make a Recordman?

Posted on Jun 29, 2009 by tb3

I've recently gotten into vinyl. The only real downfall to records I've found is they only have about half the songs that CDs and MP3 albums do.

Strange.
02

I was a very early user of a walkman

Posted on Jun 29, 2009 by TheRadioHead

Yes, I am talking 30 years ago. I used to walk 10K a day to and from work, so it was heaven sent.

I went to a wedding shower for a friend, and a woman I did not know came up to me and asked me if I was blind or deaf.

Apparently our paths crossed on our daily trek to work, and she figured this apparatus I had on was to guide me in some way.
03

think i've had 'em all

Posted on Jun 29, 2009 by littlebaygirl

honestly, i think i've had every version of portable music device. Remember "dying" for the walkman when they first came out and saving up babysitting money as i was convinced it wouldn't show up under the Christmas tree. It was a non-Sony, but i loved it. If i dug around the house, i'm sure i could find a waterproof Sony tape walkman (yellow), portable CD player, and currently still use a 512B mp3. It's time to upgrade again...
04

Re: How Does a 30-Year-Old Sony Walkman Hold Up Against an iPod?

Posted on Jun 30, 2009 by Russe

A 13 year old didn't know about any of that?!!?!?

Honestly I'm only 18 & I had a walkman for a lot of my childhood. Cassettes hold such fond memories for me. Kids these days, honestly. : P