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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

#171

Post by prmoustache »

ssl-3 wrote: post #129
pelgueta wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you even read the article? They mention Sony sells a new Walkman just like what you mention https://www.sony.co.uk/walkman

Maybe it's just me (am I holding it wrong?), but the link you provided lands at only two products: DMP-Z1 Digital Music Player Signature Series (price unavailable) WM1ZM2 Walkman® Signature Series (£3,299.00, financing available)

there is also what looks like a headset integrated player in the sports section but it is true that it seems they have totally abandonned their regular non luxury walkman line that was still available a couple of years ago.

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

#172

Post by jollyllama »

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…

I think everybody talking about how you can get an android device that does this missing the point. Android is not very good. These devices are just repurposed cell phone components, basically.

The original iPod was an offline device with high quality interfaces and it "just worked." The fact that such a thing can't be found for music - let alone video - speaks volumes.

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

#173

Post by ndiddy »

roskoe wrote: post #114
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...

It looks like they recently discontinued that model, I don't see it new anywhere.

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

#174

Post by timonoko »

snapetom wrote: post #151
timonoko wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

MP3-module from Aliexpress and some ESP-board with tiny display and micropython. Ten Euro. You can make random search N in the MP3-module, because OFF/ON restarts and then you short NEXT-button wires N times.

You forgot to add /s. In no universe would this suggestion be at all practical, and meets practically none of the criteria I'm looking for.

Everything else is doable, expect maybe "lossless". But then, alas, WAV is as lossless as can be and memory is cheap.

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

#175

Post by phire »

SpecialistK wrote: post #156
phire wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or even the Pi Pico. You really don't need that much processing power to decode mp3s and FLACs.

I was looking at the Pico first when writing that, but you would need a SD card header. Small issue - I use one for my Dreamcast controller Maple>USB bus.

You already need to add a decent quality DAC/Amp, might as well add a SD card slot at the same time.

On top of the lower power consumption, another advantage of the pico is that you can actually buy the raw RP2040 or RP2350 chips (for roughly $1) and make your own custom PCB.

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

#176

Post by andai »

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 mean why doesn't Apple sell music devices that can't run an App store? I think they make a lot of money from the app store, so they'd probably lose a lot of money by doing that.

(I don't know about Apple's current iPod lineup but I'm assuming they all have the app store on them. I do miss my old iPod classic though.)

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

#177

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

citrin_ru wrote: post #161
cbmuser wrote: post #50

It’s really only economics, there is simply no relevant market for mechanical cassette players that would justify the investment. I don’t think it’s true that the capabilities to make these devices are lost. There are still companies like ALPS that are capable of making the necessary parts. But in the end, the market is too small to justify any investments.

Modern economy cannot exists without economy of scale. It's unfortunate is that if you want something else than millions of other people the price likely will be prohibitive - small scale production is not viable economically, especially for high tech components and devices. > I don’t think it’s true that the capabilities to make these devices are lost. I think they are. Not all knowledge is captured in documentation…

This is - in passing - why billionaire prepper fantasies of surviving an apocalypse on a private island are insane. Sooner or later spares and consumables will start running out, and without global supply chains nothing is repairable.

You might get ten years if you stock up on ten of everything you can think of, plus a few things you can't, but after that things will start breaking down, and you're going to start running out of replacement parts.

And you'll be out of consumables long before then.

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

#178

Post by nine_k »

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…

IOW, it was also technically hard for Sony to launch the original Walkman, but they overcame the difficulties, because they expected a huge market success (which followed).

Now the product would be niche, and what had been originally built for its production became unavailable. The effort to stand up it all over again would not pay off.

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

#179

Post by ChoGGi »

phire wrote: post #100
tgv wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

There are so many 3rd party parts available for iPods. Pry it open, replace the battery, swap the HDD for something like the iFlash.

Are they useable on Windows for loading music?

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

#180

Post by slfnflctd »

rbanffy wrote: post #99
bombcar wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's still TAPE drives out there, but nowhere near as many as there were, and they're expensive. You could make a Walkman; it'd cost $3-10k each.

Tape now is very niche - it’s for data archival purposes, and often only exists for regulatory reasons. This is why it is ludicrously expensive- it only needs to be cheaper than the next credible commercially available alternative, which only needs to offset the risk of going to jail for malicious malpractice.

The LTO-10 can hold 30 TB of highly compressed data on one cassette, and will last at least 30 years without degradation (probably longer under optimal conditions). This is still useful for many things. It does take almost a full day to fill up a tape, though, so if you're trying to back up a lot of stuff fast you're probably just going back to SSDs.

The M-disc is a better option for most use cases-- but if you have a ton of data that needs archiving, the tape involves less human labor and less physical space, which is I guess how the high prices are justified for those 'niche' applications.

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