My first thought when I saw the “Friday Flashback” post on the Sony Blog was: “What do they mean, Flashback?”. My first CD Player is still in regular use, as good as the day it left the factory!
Flashback Friday: The Sony Discman (1984) « SONY make.believe
1984: Ghostbusters made its ways onto the big screen, Los Angeles hosted athletes from around the globe and the first ever flight in space by a human untethered using jet back packs happened. What better way to rock out to all these 80’s milestones than by pulling out a Sony Walkman® CD player. Introduced in 1984 and very shortly after the concept of CD players were introduced, the D-50 was world’s first portable CD player. The CD player was compact for its time equalling the size of approximately four CD cases with a weight of around 590g. Offered for less than 50,000 yen, this device sparked the adoption of the CD… [cont]
The 6 x C cell battery pack made it more luggable, than truly mobile, and from memory rechargeable cells (not the recommended alkaline) lasted about 3 hours. It survived many trips in the car with one of those cassette adaptors and a cigarette lighter power adaptor (which I also still have!).
I wonder if Sony were conservative with their first small CD player as its construction is solid, many steel components where later players used plastic. After the car CD arrived it was relegated to home but still gets occasional use. The CD in the photo, taken today, is spinning and sounds just fine.
If only they’d reissue my favourite headphones from that era, right, or a new version with the same form factor. I just got some new Sony ear buds which do sound better and leave those shite ones Apple supply with their iPhone for dead. However, I can’t wear them for as long as these sideways drivers which fit, me at least, better and left your ear feeling more “airy” thanks to the no-plug factor.
