Sony TPS-L2 Walkman

The sony TPS-L2 walkman was the first Walkman invented by the Sony Corporation which changed the way that music was listened to and enjoyed.. The core people behind its development were Sony Founder and Chief Advisor, the late Masaru Ibuka, who was then Sony Honorary Chairman, and the Sony Founder and Honorary Chairman Akio Morita, then Sony Chairman. They came up with the idea of sticking headphones onto a cassette player and gave their developer Kozo Ohsone to make it happen.

On the year 1979, July 1st, the world’s first first commercially available personal stereo cassette player was launched in Japan bearing a price tag to the tune of $200.00 USD. It was later introduced in the US in June 1980.

This device came in metal-cased blue-silver and with one pair of MDR-3L2 headphones. It had a Plastic case and ran using 2 AA size batteries. Apparently fearful that the consumers would consider the Walkman too antisocial, Sony built the first units with two headphone jacks permitting two people to listen at the same time. The TPS-L2 also had a "hotline" button which activated a small built-in microphone, partially overriding the sound from the cassette, and allowing one user to talk to the other over the music. Originally marketed as the "Soundabout" in the U.S., the "Stowaway" in the U.K., and the "Freestyle" in Sweden, SONY soon had the new name "Walkman" embossed into the metal tape cover of the device. When the follow-up model, "Walkman II" came out, the "hotline" button and double headphone jacks were phased out.

"This is the product that will satisfy those young people who want to listen to music all day. They'll take it everywhere with them, and they won't care about record functions. If we put a playback-only headphone stereo like this on the market, it'll be a hit." - Akio Morita, February 1979, Sony Headquart

The world took a big step towards the Sony when they presented the Walkman in 1979. Before the introduction of this new device by the Sony Corporation, music could be enjoyed only through a stereo system at home or from a car audio system. The Sony brought in a whole new concept - 'enjoying music anywhere and anytime'; this Walkman portable stereo became the new means of enjoying personal music entertainment. The device was not particularly advanced. It was Sony’s advance in marketing that lead the launch to a great success. Portable tape recorders had already existed at the time, although they were not designed for the general public. These recorders lacked stereo sound and were very expensive. They also used microcassettes, which had no support from record companies and were expensive too. But the Walkman was a music player first and foremost, and it needed no record functions. The record function and a speaker from conventional cassette tape recorder were eliminated and instead stereo circuits and a stereo headphone terminal were equipped, creating the Walkman.

Headphones are essential to the Walkman concept. While the development of a Walkman personal stereo was proceeding, another research team was coincidentally developing lightweight headphones. Compared to conventional headphones that weighed 300 to 400g, the new headphones weighed less than 50g. The 'TPS-L2' was launched with the headphones model 'MDR-3L2', weighing only 45g. Since then, the development of headphones have continued to evolve.

Although the name 'Walkman' is now highly recognized throughout the world, there were some fundamental challenges in naming this new product. At the time of the initial introduction of the Walkman overseas, Sony sales companies abroad strongly opposed the Japanese-made English word 'Walkman'. However, the name 'Walkman' was eventually accepted overseas, as Walkman portable stereos became very popular in Japan and tourists visiting Japan from abroad started buying them as a souvenir. At this point, Mr. Morita decided to standardize the name of the product and officially announced that the name 'Walkman' would be used worldwide. In 1986, the word 'Walkman' appeared in the Oxford English Dictionary and officially became a new English word. The first WALKMAN logo.

During the development, it indeed caused doubts about the profitability of this new product among the market watchers and even Sony employees. However the development team believed in the potential of the new market, and they launched the first model. In two months, after the launch of this first model, all doubts were completely wiped out, and the Walkman became extremely popular. The Walkman became a new culture icon - a social phenomenon - with enormous support from young users.

The promotion campaign of the new devise was also made huge. Walkman was widely advertised by celebrities appeared in magazines with the product. To promote the device amongst younger Japanese, Sony hired young people to walk through the Ginza, offering passersby to listen to the Walkman's excellent audio quality. Instead of having a conventional introduction to the press, Sony arranged a bus tour with actors throughout Tokyo posing with the Walkman while the reporters listened to a recorded tour.
World's first Walkman Ad in the history. Only seen in Japan.
A month after the Walkman became available in Japanese stores, it was sold out. The device was popular amongst all consumers, not just those under 20. Sony had succeeded at creating a personal audio player, and it prepared to launch the product in Europe and North America. In ten years Sony sold 50 million units, while competitors had sold countless knockoffs.

The Walkman was originally introduced as a compact cassette tape player, but with the emergence of new music media, the Walkman has expanded its product lineup. It includes the Sony Discman* portable CD player 'D-50' in 1984, DAT Walkman 'TCD-D3' in 1990, and MiniDisc Walkman" 'MZ-1', 'MZ-2P' in 1992. Currently the development of "Memory Stick" Walkman compatible with the new chewing gum-sized IC recording media is in process.
Over the years, the Sony Walkman has dramatically changed the way the world listens to music. The Walkman made music listening a personal experience, by providing people with the freedom to enjoy music regardless of place. Sony will continue to represent revolutionary portable audio products that carry forward the legacy of the first Walkman.