SONY WALKMAN TPS-L2

Question 1

What was the name of former Sony chairman that often dragged a large tape deck and bulbous headphones with him wherever he went?

Answer 1

Masaru Ibuka

Question 2

What was the name of the founder and honorary chairman of Sony who studied the problem his colleague was having?

Answer 2

Akio Morita

Question 3

Compare the headphones of the Walkman to normal headphones

Answer 3

Light (50g instead of 300g) / produced comparable audio quality / the size and weight of the headphones were visually proportionate to the player

Question 4

In what year was the Walkman introduced?

Answer 4

1979

Question 5

What did Sony first incorporated into the Walkman so it wouldn’t be considered to be an anti-social device?

Answer 5

2 headphone jacks labeled ‘guys’ and ‘gals’ to promote collaborative listening / ‘Hot Line’ feature enabled users to mute the music and amplify ambient sounds

Question 6

Why did Sony drop the social features in later models?

Answer 6

One of the reasons for the Walkman’s success was that it enabled users to be ‘politely antisocial’

Question 7

Describe the form and aesthetics of the Walkman

Answer 7

Its rectangular form suggests functionality but is largely unspectacular in terms of colour (dull grey-blue). There is excessive labelling.