The Walkman
How the first-best personal audio device was made into a cultural icon
The Walkman let you listen to what you wanted. For the first time at scale, Sony gave people a way to enjoy their audio on the move. It was the best way to listen to music while walking blocks through New York City; or self-help tapes on the underground railway.
The Walkman didn’t invent any critical piece of technology to deliver this. But they perfected each one—like the miniaturization of the tape player for carriability—and packaged it into a portable container. The Walkman is another example of a product so successful that it changed culture forever, but without one-of-a-kind invention.
Before the Walkman, people wanted a way to enjoy music on the go, baptizing themselves in audio whenever and however they chose, but…
Music wasn’t portable. There was limited mobility when you listened to music, you had to stay close to the source. This roped you into a specific environment for the duration that you wanted to listen to music.
You didn’t have control over your listening experience. If you played music, someone else would hear it. There wasn’t privacy when listening. And you weren’t able to customize the audio for yourself.
Boomboxes could eat D-batteries for breakfast and play music without an outlet, but this created a public listening experience. Everyone was sprayed with the same tunes. You also needed a strong arm to carry the device, and time was limited due to power.
The first version of the Walkman, the TPS-L2, used two double A batteries, allowing eight hours of listening time (note: Sony also sold double A batteries). Because the device was designed around headphone listening, it required significantly less power than a portable full-speaker stereo, making it longer lasting and, therefore a better solution.
Portable cassette players were released in the late ‘60s, a decade before our beloved Sony device. So why did the Walkman succeed when earlier cassette players already existed? The Walkman was also designed for, yes, walking.
Importantly, the ability to take music anywhere removes one of the roadblocks from our initial problem. Earlier cassette players could not handle being moved: bumped, tapped, or shocked. The Walkman solved this by making the inner mechanics more durable and resistant to small collisions.
This made it possible to listen to audio on a commute, at the gym, or to soundtrack your daily experience. “It emotionalized your life. It actually put magic into your life” said Andreas Pavel, who patented a similar-working prototype of the device before Sony. By fitting the tape and headphone jack into a single, pocket-sized device, anyone could listen to anything on the move.
Before the Walkman, listening to music was rarely private and personal. Not everyone wanted to blast music for everyone to hear. The Walkman solved this with a private listening experience using headphones. The over-the-ear, foam-wrapped headphones were part of the Walkman phenomenon.
The sound quality of a Walkman was better than before. With other portable cassette players, the build didn’t allow for near-vinyl quality sound. It was crunchy and muted, not making the listening experience enjoyable. The Walkman raised the sound standard. Making it a valid substitute for a stationary stereo.
They also took personalization a step further. The WM-D6C model allowed for recording. Making it possible to use the Walkman as a personal recorder and create your own audio. The WM-R15 made it possible to record with external sources. Making it easier to create personalized mixtapes or even record musical instruments. The WM-BF22 had an equalizer that gave users more control over equalization. Making it possible to refine bass, mid, and treble ranges. All helping to provide a personalized listening experience to the user.
Sony iterated on what people wanted. They had some success and some missteps.
At one point they added a second headphone jack so that more than one person could listen to the same music at the same time. This didn’t remove one of the original obstacles: keeping music portable. Two people tethered to the device meant less room for mobility. It solved a different problem: sharing music with friends. Two people could enjoy music like conjoined twins with the Walkman, but the existing stereo solved this problem in a better way.
They created many purpose-specific iterations of the Walkman. They had a “sports” version which was touted as water-resistant, making it easier to use around the pool, or while doing outdoor chores.
They also made versions for kids.
The Walkman got first-in-mind status with a clever combination of culture and print-based marketing. They targeted a younger demographic, making the Walkman a fashion statement and totem of freedom. They even hired actors to pose with the device in dense cities.
They did deals with media corps. Placing the Walkman in some of the biggest movies of the day, including 007—A View to Kill. And of course, their print game was on point.
The Walkman is a case study of not-so-new technology being pulled together to create an adored product worldwide. They got the problem right. People wanted to listen to audio wherever. The portability and the ideal listening experience made it the best product money could buy. And their combination of product placement and ads made it first in mind.
Sony iterated with innovations and new versions over the years. And towards the end of the Walkman’s life, they would update their problem and create something new: the Discman.
That print game was so strong!