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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

#111

Post by jazzyjackson »

tgv wrote: post #96
phire wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess there just is no room in the current market for a mid-ranged product. The segment is being squeezed on at least five sides (probably more): - Cheap low-end no-name players; - Audiophile products like the Sony walkman stuff; - People who are happy using their phones; - (for the exercise "phone too heavy" use case) A smart watch, paired to bluetooth headphones; - Second hand iPods from the 2000s, often refurbis…

I had an ipod, but the battery is dead, and it still had a rotating hd, so I thought: I liked Sony Discman, back in the day, this new player must be good. I was wrong. It sucks in many different ways. I've described some of the problems before and copied them here: My iPod Classic was in a terminal phase, and since I like to carry my music around instead of streaming arbitrary stuff, I bought a Sony Walkman mp3 (+ ot…

Refurbished iPod is the way try go, I have a 2006 model with new battery and 128GB flash memory, it’s great for leaving plugged in in the car

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

#112

Post by ahartmetz »

gpvos wrote: post #102
fsuts wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Unless something changed recently (and things change all the time where LLMs are involved), deepl.com does the best translations. I have a sister who translates professionally; she said it's the only one where she can use the result and make some improvements instead of throwing it away and starting over.

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

#113

Post by trencedamp »

ramgine wrote: post #23
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…

Have you looked at fiio? They’ve been doing it a while and aren’t crazy expensive https://www.fiio.com/player https://a.co/d/055SGJE1

These actually look decent, thanks for the link. I wonder why I could never find them in my endless googling

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

#114

Post by roskoe »

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 basic Sony Walkman is 74.99 $

https://electronics.sony.com/audio/walkman-digital-recorders...

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

#115

Post by ssl-3 »

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…

> Why can't somebody take simple smartphone hardware and make a modern media player that is not a phone?

Why can't people simply take inexpensive smartphone hardware, install modern media player software on it, and then just use it to listen to music?

Is it fundamentally impossible to properly enjoy music while ignoring the extra parts that sit disused inside?

I mean: At least here in the States, a person can walk into a Walmart or Best Buy with a fifty dollar bill, and walk out with a brand new Motorola MP3-playing device with wifi, an IPS screen, a headphone jack, and an SD card slot -- and they can then simply use it.

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

#116

Post by ezst »

thejazzman wrote: post #68
ezst wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you still adore it as much today, though? I know I don't adore my iPod classic as much now as I did in 2006, and that's inclusive of the nostalgia kick. It's just not very practical and usable in today's world.

I still adore the hell out of my 512GB (SD) iPod Classic/Minis You can buy new shells, colors, storage adapters, batteries, etc. https://github.com/jmonster/podhnologic

The tactile experience is a nice throwback in a touchscreen mostly/no physical buttons present, but the display is garbage by modern standards, finding specific tracks sucks, and doing any amount of playlist management is an exercise in frustration. And that is with replacing the firmware with rockbox, which significantly improves on those areas :-)

https://www.rockbox.org/

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

#117

Post by yokoprime »

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…

Sony and Fiio both make high end "mp3 players" aka Digital Audio Player. These are expensive devices and have more in common with mobile phones, but you can buy them

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

#118

Post by trencedamp »

jnaina wrote: post #61
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…

they do. tons of them. https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-mp3-player.html

I've bought too many of these. They never look like the picture, the screens are awful, they all use the same shit soc, they don't last and they have issues with tags and sorting.

I just want a company I've heard of to make something that doesn't absolutely suck but also doesn't cost more than a phone

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

#120

Post by trencedamp »

ezst wrote: post #45
trencedamp wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It barely needs a screen. I adored my minidisc players and they were all basically calculator displays

Would you still adore it as much today, though? I know I don't adore my iPod classic as much now as I did in 2006, and that's inclusive of the nostalgia kick. It's just not very practical and usable in today's world.

Hard to be objective through the nostalgia tbh. I would expect more today I guess
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