Today saw the last of the Sony Walkmans leave the production line. The enigmatic and sometimes hefty portable music player of the 80’s that introduced us to phrases such as ‘belt clip’, ‘auto reverse’ and ‘mega bass’, has finally waved the proverbial white flag and is being put to rest.
Cassette tapes were arguably one of the most reasonable and realistic forms of portable audio storage. Great pleasure could be had from the streaming contents of a TDK D90 (or the Memorex equivalent during past days of austerity), but in an age governed by terabytes (for the record, anybody with a terabyte of music is stealing way beyond the acceptable quota), concepts such as filtering, and becoming familiar with music are gone.
Ah, how we all enjoyed making mix-tapes, selecting songs that would best express our pubescent turmoil, then labelling the inlay with decorative bubble writing – bliss. Now however, such innocent pleasures are redundant, as a person can easily saunter the world with every single piece of recorded music at their fingertips with accompanying thumbnail art.
I am very much a huge fan of Walkmans and use mine on occasion, despite always being met with looks of disgust and labelled as a man averting modernity.
Personally, Walkmans have provided the backdrop for numerous memories and experiences. Be it en route to school trading tapes with friends, or mastering the feat of rewinding a tape using just a well-oiled wrist and a Parker Pen, (spare me your derision's, when your imitation Duracell AA batteries are on their last legs, you will do anything to hear that Chesney Hawkes number again).
So it is with lofty esteem that I say, thank you Sony Walkman and I bid you adieu. And please, do take some comfort in knowing that iPods will be joining you one day.
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My very own walkman...with Mega Bass!
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