There is no doubt that iPod has really gone very successful in the portable media device arena. And what about the original and first creator of music portable device three decades ago? Did Sony lose the battle with Apple Corporation? Or did it struggle to at least win the competition? Well, Sony is still struggling to win the lead as the world’s widely-used multimedia portable device. That’s why there’s what they call the “Sony iPod.”

Sony iPod

It may be a very embarrassing situation that a certain company’s product name is replaced with its rival company’s. To some, having the nickname “Sony iPod” may be a very disrespectful deed to the original portable music device player. But to some, it may be a struggling point.

Sony just got that coined because it also launched its very own multi-media device player at the same time as the iPod was launched. No one really knows if that was a planned coincidence. But that historical event in the digital world may seem a bequeathal of position.

Walkman’s Development through the Years

Sony didn’t let to lose the battle easily. From the first time Walkman has succeeded the music business, Sony never stopped developing and creating for new and exciting music devices. During the popularity of music in Compact Discs (CDs), Sony created the CD Walkman or the Discman. This device becomes smaller with the newer Walkman which is the MiniDisc Walkman.

Just in the early third millennium, Sony has released the NetMD or Network MD. This device expanded the MiniDisc Walkman’s capabilities. This is one of the first devices that permitted the use of Personal Computers in converting music to atrac3 format. NetMD is also among the first devices which used USB cable in transferring music files.

Then, in 2004, Sony has launched another new generation of Walkman-the Hi-MD Walkman. This Walkman version uses 1 Gig space for songs and files.

The first Sony’s attempt to equal iPods is the creation of NW-HD1. This was advertised as a smaller device that produces better quality sounds than iPods. The only downside of this is that it can only play music in atrac3 format while more people are using mp3 format.

After the NW-HD1, Sony has released the NW-MS70D. This is the first Walkman version that earned the heart of consumers. But, it was also released the same time as the iPod. Also, this portable mp3 player has less than 400 megabytes space capacity.

The next Walkman that reached the market is the NW-MS90D. This version is almost similar to iPod but was very expensive then that made the public turn to Apple product. Even the next Walkman, NW-HD3 did not also make it to win the competition because of its poor design.

The NW-HD5 made it better than the earlier versions but still, it didn’t win over iPod.

Finally, Sony released the HDD NW-A Series Walkman. This is just similar to iPod with 20 gigabytes space capacity and EL-technology screen. It also boasts new Walkman’s 20- to 35-hour capacity. This Sony technology can also play music with various formats like atrac3, wma, and mp3.

To this day, Sony is still struggling to win over iPod with its own Sony iPod. Who knows, Sony might lead the race again.

By: Willhelm Williams