MIG-31

TOKYO - When the Sony Walkman went on sale 30 years ago, it was shown off by a skateboarder to illustrate how the portable cassette-tape player delivered music on-the-go — a totally innovative idea back in 1979.

Today, Sony Corp. is struggling to reinvent itself and win back its reputation as a pioneer of razzle-dazzle gadgetry once exemplified in the Walkman, which Wednesday had its 30th anniversary marked with a special display at Sony's corporate archives.
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Source: Yahoo

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RE III - Frankie

30 years, Wow! 1977 is when Elvis passed away.

Mac Daddy

I had one when they were a brand new thing

On Sony I don't mean to be pessimistic but I have my reasons. We dropped the Sony car audio line 10 years ago at work for a couple of reasons. The first of which is they have the worst service department I have ever seen. Secondly when they brought out the Xplode line of amplifiers and sub woofers that's exactly what they did ... f**king junk

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"My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

MIG-31

Articles like this will make some feel old.... (For Me anyway) i cherished the first Walkman i had and would not let go of it at the age of ten.

This is just another reminder of the items of my child hood.. I were only 6 when these were released..How time passes by.

Along with this month is 20 year ago i left school and one month & 5 days short of becoming 37 !...signs im getting old.

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Mac Daddy

I hear ya man I used one for the bus trip to high school

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"My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

niceguyrichy

I'm not old enough to reminisce properly, but I did have one of the very first sony walkman 's that had the full digi auto button thing (one click to forward to the next song etc)
that was cool (kids at school would stop me and ask 'what's that thing???' )
sony's not so cool anymore for me, the last piece of sony hardware I had crapped out on me for no reason

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Tyrsonswood

We didn't even have these when I went to high school....... we had to remember songs in our head! You guys ain't old YET.....

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Band sites....http://www.myspace.com/chromecrow ... http://www.myspace.com/zoneblues

Mac Daddy

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"My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

MIG-31

I can fully understand your point...

Back in my day a Walkman was a prize possession... and was given to me as Xmas Prezzie.

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CDsDontBurn

lol, the walkman is older than me!

I have a pair of 10in. Sony Xplode subs that definately kick butt! they've been in my Chevy S-10, then moved to my RX8, and now are in the back seat of my Accord .

Initially I had an 800w (peak) Sony Xplode amp that died (read was killed due to id10t error by user ), and it was replaced by another Sony amp, a Class D 1200w amp. I've been happy with both products in the 6 years i've owned them (6yrs. for the subs, and 4yrs. for the Class D amp)

However, I will agree that Sony, i feel, is no longer #1 in the world of electronics. I will say though, that they are still in the top 10 of electronics.

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BlueMak

In the article it says that Sony hadn't have a hit since the Walkman days, have they forgotten PS1 and PS2?
What about all the TVs and monitors in the 80s and 90s that branded the Trinitron logo with such accomplishment?

Anyway, I had a walkman, my first, a bit late, 1985 or so. The problem was I was never given money to buy tapes, so I had to find other sources for my music. It was cool, though I almost never used it while actually walking. I would use it in long bus trips (1+ hour) and almost every night at my bed. Well, not exactly every night since the thing consumed batteries like Godzilla. It was a dark blue colour with some awful headphones. I think I might still have it somewhere, though I haven't seen a tape for years.

Over the years I bought several Sony products. Monitors (15"), that had what felt like fantastic quality in displaying whatever 256 colour game I was playing at the time. Both of them died, one in about a year, the other in 2. Since then I am/was the owner of a PSP and a couple of new "walkman" mp3 players. The first was this one
Amazon.com: Sony NW-E405 Network Walkman 512 MB Digital Music Player: Electronics It is the Sony NW-E405, but in black. The sound quality is great (I still have it), the batter life is amazing (about 50 hours) and it is still the most beautiful mp3 player I have seen. It looks far better than in the photos. The user interface is a bit strange at first, but later you just think it is the best thing ever. I still prefer it to other UIs.
The major problem it had, and it took Sony years to figure out it was causing bad sales for its line, was the awful sonic-stage program you had to use. Thankfully they released a program that you would copy in the mp3 player that would allow you to just drag and drop files instead of using SS.

After that I bought a couple of mobile phones by Sony and the PSP I mentioned earlier. The PSP didn't do it for me, but I am sold on SE phones. I have my current one for a couple of years (K800i) and it is still like new.
Last year I bought Sony Walkman NWZ-A826 Review on CNET UK Sony Walkman NWZ-A826. The sound quality of which is something to be witnessed. Very good battery life (about 30 hours), plays video files too (thanks to SUPER), very good looks and very light and modern. Very satisfied with it.

All in all I would say I have a positive view on Sony Products.

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
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Mac Daddy

The Xplode power amps had the same issues as the first generation of Alpine V12. The power MOSFET's in the regulation circuit used TO-220 cases instead of TO-3P which couldn't handle the power. We sent one particular amp back for repair 5 times. As for the subs perhaps they have improved but our customer base lost confidence and we had to do what was best for our business.

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"My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

CDsDontBurn

my amp had the option of being sent in for repair. for the cost of what it would cost, i could have just paid double more for a much better amp (the one i have now) for my subs, which is what i ended up doing. i sold my old amp to a friend of mine for dirt cheap and he said he was going to send it in. i never knew what happened to it after that though.

it's understandable about no longer using a particular product if a company is not willing to support its vendors.

as for my subs, i feel that they have aged and no longer hit as hard as they once used to. i'm also noticing that after a certain DB level i begin to get distortion with my subs. i'm not sure if that's because of their shape or if it's because of how old they are now.

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Judas

i can neither purchase sony... nor do i even want to purchase anything sony..

i've seen so many sony things tossed in the junk from lcds to tvs to dvds...

computers.... sony vaio ..lol

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Mac Daddy

Just one last FYI and glad you mentioned the shape. If your subs are of an oblong shape with 5 sides that was the warranty replacement. They seemed OK and we got our customers taken care of. The Xplode subs I am referring too had normal round cones and the issue was the tinsel wires were to short. The first heavy bass note that extended the cone ripped the tinsel wires out of the cone.

Same as the amps poor design

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"My mom said the only reason men are alive is for lawn care and vehicle maintenance." - Tim Allen

Paradox Enigma

I had one in high school...til someone stole it out of my locker...

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...thread killer...