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Why Sony can't bring back its classic Walkman models

obsoletesony.substack.com

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Re: Why Sony can't bring back its classic Walkman models

#101

Post by rustcleaner »

smolder wrote: post #87
trencedamp wrote: post #13

This is a really interesting read. But it doesn't answer one question I have, which is why can't Sony or Apple or anyone else bring back decent MP3 players? None of this technology is lost, and there are plenty of small-time two bit no name players out there still making them, often in a much smaller, much slicker form factor than than the original digital Walkman or iPod. If I want to buy a new MP3 player, I have to…

You want an mp3 player with no DRM lockin and proprietary store and so on? Sorry, that's not competitive anymore. That will not happen for the same reason people don't make affordable dumb TVs anymore. The manufacturer needs a way to spy on you or get recurring revenue some other way.

Maybe a nice 50%-200% tax on recurrent revenue streams could force things back to sell-once + no spying...

Re: Why Sony can't bring back its classic Walkman models

#102

Post by gpvos »

fsuts wrote: post #91
plorg wrote: post #63

Article is just a (wordy) recapitulation of this tweet from a former Walkman engineer: https://x.com/akiraa_tanaka/status/2080114490830680500 But fair play to OP, you'd have to bounce it through at least Google Translate to make it legible to the predominant English-speaking HM crowd: https://x-com.translate.goog/akiraa_tanaka/status/2080114490... Still would have been good for the Substack author to link to the twee…

But fair play to OP, you'd have to bounce it through at least Google Translate to make it legible to the predominant English-speaking HM crowd: https://x-com.translate.goog/akiraa_tanaka/status/2080114490... People still use google translate? Most browsers now have translate built in, as do llm I imagine grok on x will do this too

Firefox didn't offer to translate this, so initially I wasn't aware that it could. But I could get it to translate via the menu. And Google Translate is still a bit better, so I do regularly fall back to that.

Re: Why Sony can't bring back its classic Walkman models

#103

Post by Cthulhu_ »

fsuts wrote: post #94

Most music is controlled by a few large companies. If you could demonstrate a revenue stream higher than streaming then they may support. Without that, a struggle, as you need to have exclusives and bonus tracks to differentiate. With vinyl there are claims of a superior listening experience, that’s not the case with casettes If any of you are parents of young kids, buy a used book box or Walkman of eBay along with g…

The thing with vinyl is that record players never really went away, but more importantly compared to the walkman (and in the spirit of this article / tweet), they are big and relatively simple, with the pickups probably being the most specialized part of them. And since people kept vinyl players around and they need replacement every once in a while, some of the companies making them never really went away.

Anyway, yes, give your kids physical media, if anything it'll give them something physical to associate with the memory of e.g. music. For me, streaming has lowered the value of music. Before streaming I'd pirate, because digital music was easier, but even then it had more value to me because I had curated playlists and whatnot. Trying to make up for it by buying vinyls of my favorite albums, even though I don't own a player (yet).

Re: Why Sony can't bring back its classic Walkman models

#104

Post by timc3 »

arthurfm wrote: post #66
jayGlow wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you could use a smart watch, not nearly as much storage but for playing music while running it can work well enough.

There's a case [1] for the Apple Watch that turns it into an 'iPod'. It's also quite similar to the Pod Case concept [2]. [1] https://thetinypod.com [2] https://www.behance.net/gallery/72386255/Pod-Case-for-Apple-...

Oh that is kinda cool. Now I really want one

Re: Why Sony can't bring back its classic Walkman models

#105

Post by rustcleaner »

rbanffy wrote: post #92
tonyhart7 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, that is the primary reason people just want it but not enough people to buy the thing same happen with physical games

> same happen with physical games And now it’s faster to get them online than to go to the store, even if the game doesn’t have to download itself again for updates.

... and you end up being the donkey they can pin the tail onto, when they feel like bilking you again.

Re: Why Sony can't bring back its classic Walkman models

#106

Post by trencedamp »

nl wrote: post #52
trencedamp wrote: post #13

This is a really interesting read. But it doesn't answer one question I have, which is why can't Sony or Apple or anyone else bring back decent MP3 players? None of this technology is lost, and there are plenty of small-time two bit no name players out there still making them, often in a much smaller, much slicker form factor than than the original digital Walkman or iPod. If I want to buy a new MP3 player, I have to…

> If I want to buy a new MP3 player, I have to buy something from a company I've never heard of with a terrible screen, use an old phone, or buy some sort of enthusiast audiophile flac player thing that costs way too much. Is this surprising? They are a commodity (you can literally build a fairly decent for less than $10 in parts) so therefore are low profit. Brands you have heard of generally don't want to play in c…

I've bought several of these and they don't last. You're right that they are commodity items. The components and quality are shit, there's no support, and six months later the company has vanished.

I guess I just want somewhere between $30 and $500, somewhere between absolutely piece of shit and extreme prestige. But I'm dreaming if I think anyone is going to serve that market

Re: Why Sony can't bring back its classic Walkman models

#107

Post by Cthulhu_ »

stevekemp wrote: post #73
jerlam wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

MP3s have been on the way out for a long time, being replaced by music subscriptions. And "MP3 player" is a feature of other devices, not its own device. Both my Apple Watch and Garmin watch can store and play MP3s without a phone; both also support music subscriptions. The only market is in the "enthusiast audiophile flac player thing that costs way too much", just like it is currently for vinyls and DVD players.

I buy films from local charity shops for €1/film, but it seems the local electronics stores are not selling many DVD players any more. It seems like streaming "won", which is disappointing.

Disappointing, but that's the harsh reality of how the market works. Convenience wins. Which is why physical media sales first suffered (allegedly) from piracy; I don't think it was primarily to avoid paying for stuff, but because having years of music in a winamp playlist was much less hassle than managing a CD collection.

Piracy was ultimately defeated or at least greatly diminished thanks to streaming services. It's making a comeback now due to increased prices and fragmentation though (and to a degree, the politics of prominent figures at these streaming companies - artists pulled their music from Spotify out of protest).

Re: Why Sony can't bring back its classic Walkman models

#108

Post by Cthulhu_ »

nubinetwork wrote: post #15
trencedamp wrote: post #13

This is a really interesting read. But it doesn't answer one question I have, which is why can't Sony or Apple or anyone else bring back decent MP3 players? None of this technology is lost, and there are plenty of small-time two bit no name players out there still making them, often in a much smaller, much slicker form factor than than the original digital Walkman or iPod. If I want to buy a new MP3 player, I have to…

The iPod was a product in an interesting time... if you ignore the screen, a modern mp3 player could be made as small as a SD card... as soon as you add the screen, you need a full operating system to manage files and run the screen. Nobody wants to put the effort into something that's going to be as basic as a mp3 player.

So like the original iPod Shuffle? Just buttons, a clip and a headphone jack, no screen.

(I do think they need a minimum size to be usable but companies can be creative with the form factor)

Re: Why Sony can't bring back its classic Walkman models

#109

Post by dijit »

izacus wrote: post #70
trencedamp wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Show me the cheaper one please. The lowest price Walkman I can see is 400 bucks for 32gb

That is the decent player you're looking for. (It has an SD card slot.) iPods weren't cheap either.

Fourth gen ipod was $399 new.

(the one with the touch wheel and colour display, usually what people think of when they think “classic ipod”.)

It released in 2005, so adjusted for inflation thats $668.91

Yowza!

Re: Why Sony can't bring back its classic Walkman models

#110

Post by trencedamp »

bandrami wrote: post #57
trencedamp wrote: post #13

This is a really interesting read. But it doesn't answer one question I have, which is why can't Sony or Apple or anyone else bring back decent MP3 players? None of this technology is lost, and there are plenty of small-time two bit no name players out there still making them, often in a much smaller, much slicker form factor than than the original digital Walkman or iPod. If I want to buy a new MP3 player, I have to…

IDK I've got some rando Chinese product that looks pretty much exactly like a late-2000s iPod "classic" and has some fairly generic Android interface including a decent music player. I think it cost like $40.

I've bought a few for the kids but they generally have weird issues like sorting music in bizarre unpredictable ways (can't seem to get it to play an audiobook in order). There's no customer support, and they also break fairly easily
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