Portable CD Player

Archive for November, 2009

From Walkman to iPod, What a Journey

November 24th, 2009

A Trip Down Memory Lane – Sony Walkman to Apple Ipod

There may be some of you reading this, that can remember something called a Sony Walkman. Now if you are not old enough, just ask your parents or even an older brother or sister. What you will see is this kind of smile come over their faces. Boy, does time fly and technology go even faster.

You see, if you lived back in the 1980′s, the Sony Walkman was the coolest thing on the planet. Now if you did live back then, you probably owned one of these. This product was the rave. This product was everywhere, in the airports, the malls, on buses, everywhere. You would see the kids in the back seat of the family car, listening to their own thing, using the Sony Walkman. Their parents would be listening to something else (Dean Martin or Perry Como), which the kids hated.

A phenomenon is a term that implies that something is here today and then gone tomorrow. The Walkman was beyond a phenomenon, it was a mainstay. It was a staple of the society in which it was introduced. If there was a time capsule created to represent the 1980′s, the Walkman would have to be included. If you were to not include it, would be the same thing as discussing technology of the 21st century and leaving out the part about the internet.

Now for the next generation of personal entertainment devices, from the Walkman to the iPod. I am not sure how you could avoid not knowing about the Apple iPod, unless you happen to be living in that time capsule we talked about earlier. So, you have seen them, they are everywhere (sound familiar?). If you ask 10 people to explain what an iPod is, you’ll likely receive 10 different answers; and all of them will likely contain some element of fact and logic. Introduced by Apple Computers in 2001, the iPod is technically defined as a portable music player; and even this doesn’t do it justice. Today it is so much more.

Now the Walkman was really for the kids, that is who mainly used it. Not today and the iPod. It is not just for kids anymore. You see more than just kids walking around with these little white wires sticking out of there ears.

The Apple iPod is a truly amazing product. It has crossed the demographic consumer lines. You see people of all ages wearing these things: from the teachers, the kids (big and small) to the senior citizens, the athletes who manage to keep the ear buds in place despite doing whatever there sport happens to be.

Now, don’t panic if you haven’t entered the iPod country yourself. There are so many to chose from: the iPod classic, iPod shuffle, iPod nano, the iPod mini and so much more. And lets not forget about all the iPod accessories that go along with this. Though the iPod are so incredibly popular, there are still enough people out there who haven’t tried one yet. And there are still people out there who have the iPod and haven’t even taken it out of first gear yet. Why is this?

The reason is because technology can seem confusing and despite its small size, figuring out the in’s and the outs of the iPod can seem intimidating and time consuming. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. The iPod is built around the reputation of Apple which is base things on simplicity and ease of use. Just like the Mac computer. The iPod is as easy to use as a DVD player, or maybe even easier.

In closing here are some facts about the Apple iPod that you may not be aware of. I am sure you know this that the iPod is the #1 selling digital music device. What does it take to be the #1 selling device in this competitive marketplace? Here are some facts. Since 2001 there have been 110 million devices sold world wide. That is:

18 million devices/year

1.527 million/month

50,228/day

2093/hr

35/min

Now if that does not make you go WOW, to the Apple iPod popularity, I am not sure what would. It’s no wonder, given these awesome sales total, that the question most people ask these days isn’t: are you getting an iPod, but rather: where is your iPod?

Visit http://www.ipodaccessoriesreviews.com for more great information.

By: Steve Madigan

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Tags: Airports Apple Computers Apple Ipod Back Seat Buses Dean Martin Mainstay Malls Memory Lane Music Player Next Generation Perry Como Personal Entertainment Phenomenon Portable Music Sony Walkman Staple Time Capsule Time Fly Trip Down

The Sony NW-HD5 20GB Walkman – A Great Start But a Horrible Finish

November 22nd, 2009

The Sony network Walkman has a storage capability of no less then 20GB and its battery power is sufficient for more then 40 hours of continuous music. It’s small, certainly compared to its storage capacity. The Walkman has a slim aluminum case that fits nicely into your hands. It really looks like a cool state of the art piece of technology.

The operation of the Sony NW-HD5 is very intuitive. Still this Walkman comes with a lot op options. The hard-disk of the Walkman is equipped with the so-called “G-Sensor” technology that protects it to sudden shocks and movements. The clear 1.5 inch dot matrix LCD screen is nicely illuminated at will. So you see there are plenty of pluses with this device.

But on the minus side there are some, in our opinion unforgivable, omissions. The equalizer and performance improving capabilities will only work if you play Sony’s own ATRAC3 files. You can only add music to the player by using the program SonicStage that converts WMA files automatically to the Sony ATRAC3 standard. Using the Windows Explorer to manage your files is almost impossible. And to top it all off, if you want to be able to use the NW-HD5 with multiple computers you will have to register with Sony’s own music service. Otherwise that is off limits. Finally, the NW-HD5 has no remote control.

Let’s face it the Sony NW-HD5 is a nice piece of technology, but by adding so many limitations and conditions on its usage this device loses all of its attraction. Our advice is: “Let Sony know that we don’t like the limitations they impose on us by buying another player”.

It just doesn’t make sense that Sony is trying to force consumers into using their standards and placing a multitude of limitations on them if they don’t want to comply.

By: Ross MacIvar

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Tags: Aluminum Case Art Piece Battery Power Continuous Music Dot Matrix Matrix Lcd Multiple Computers Music Service Own Music Pluses Sensor Technology Sonicstage Sony Atrac3 Sony Network Walkman Sony Nw Hd5 Sony Walkman Storage Capability Storage Capacity Sudden Shocks Wma Files

The Miracle Of Travelling Sound – The Walkman

November 21st, 2009

One of the most original products in the musical world is the Sony Walkman. Walkman made its debut in 1979 in Japan. It also came to be termed as the Soundabout, Freestyle and Stowaway. The Walkman was the brainchild of Nobutoshi Kihara of Sony.

The co-chairman of Sony, Morita was very fond of operas and wanted to hear these while on his frequent international trips. Sony still uses the brand name of Walkman for portable audio gadgets. The plural form is not `walkmen` or `walkmans` but Walkman personal stereos. In March 2007 Sony launched the first digital video Walkman – NW-A800.

The first blue-silver Walkman was up for sale in Japan on 1st July 1979. It allows two persons simultaneously to listen to it. Soon models came in that could also do recording. In 1984 the best quality – Walkman Professional WM-D6C made its appearance with superb audio quality. It became popular with journalists and hi-fi fans. It is remarkable that considering the ever-changing nature of electronic goods, this model has remained the same and continues to reign over others.

Stiff competition came from Toshiba with its Walky, CassetteBoy from Aiwa and Panasonic. But Sony kept up the pace and created the playback only – the only one of its kind in 1989. It became a sacred collector`s item for Walkman admirers.

The company used unique methods to publicize the introduction of the device. People using the Walkman were seen cycling or roller-skating in the open and this had an impact on the attending journalists. Upon arrival they were each handed a Walkman and had to listen to instructions over the stereo. A young couple listening to it while on a tandem cycle completed the show. All involved in the launching programmed sported Walkman T shirts.

The journalists experienced how one can listen to music of choice wherever and whenever desired. For casual spectators it was a puzzling event without any public announcements. To further promote the product among the people the members of the publicity team went around buses and trains during peak hours sporting a Walkman. Sony made a concerted effort to negate the adverse impressions of headphones.

Celebrities were presented with sets and magazines glossed over it. Within a month of the launch only 3,000 units had been sold but thereafter sales picked up and Sony had to struggle to keep pace with demand. Initially it was those in mid 20`s that showed interest but soon the fan base widened to include a cross section of society.

During the 1970`s the home stereo market had become popular and the portable radio transistor had created a boom. Boom-boxes that were one-piece stereo systems powered by battery were making waves with the sound emanating from two or more speakers. Thus one could listen to music without being confined to one place.

Micro and mini-cassette players that could fit into a pocket were becoming hot favourites. This was the background of the scene when the Sony Walkman appeared with a bang. The basic idea was to place a radio inside an audiocassette chassis and manipulate it to send the audio into its cassette home player. Soon a secondary market developed round the Walkman – headphones and other accessories like the need to install speakers on the desk at home. Special travel bags came into vogue with speakers inside it. Trendy vests sported speakers on the shoulders.

The Walkman era drew to a close in 1986 with Sony introducing the Discman ushering in the digital age. Today there are disposable personal stereo cassette players priced at $20 bearing little resemblance to their ancestors.

By: Roberto Sedycias