The Original Walkman vs. the iPod Touch
By Harry McCracken | Monday, June 29, 2009 at 8:46 am
On Wednesday, a legendary gadget turns thirty–Sony’s Walkman, which put high-quality music into our pockets for the first time. Back when I was at PC World, we named the original model, the TPS-L2, as the greatest gadget of all time; the iPod was #2. The Walkman name lives on via new phones and digital audio players; if the iPod name is still in use in 2031, thirty years after the debut of Apple’s first music player, I’ll be impressed.
I was reminded of the anniversary by a fun BBC story by a 13-year-old who tried replacing his iPod with a Walkman (he wasn’t impressed). And I was moved to create a T-Grid comparing 1979’s TPS-L2 to today’s most highly-evolved iPod, the iPod Touch. Like the Beeb’s teenaged tester, I wouldn’t give up my iPod (which happens to be an iPhone) for a Walkman. But I’m not so sure that the TPS-L2 wasn’t equally as impressive (and fashionable) in its day, in its own way…
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The devices
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Sony Walkman TPS-L2
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iPod Touch
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|---|---|---|
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Released
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July 1st, 1979
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September 5th, 2007
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Original name in U.S.
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Soundabout
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iPod Touch (ok, iPod touch)
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Associated with legendary tech exec?
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Yes, Sony co-chairman Akio Morita
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Yes, Apple CEO Steve Jobs
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Launched with press bash?
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Yes–journalists were taken by bus to a Tokyo park, given Walkmen to listen to, and shown demos such as a guy and girl listening to Walkmen while riding a tandem bike.
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Yes–Steve Jobs unveiled it along with the squarish iPod Nano and the iPod Classic; Starbucks CEO Howard Schulz appeared and KT Tunstall entertained
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Price
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33,000 yen (approximately $475 in 2008 dollars)
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$229 (8GB); $299 (16GB); $399 (32GB)
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Cleverly adapted technology from an earlier product?
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||
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Dimensions
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130mm by 90mm by 30mm
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110m by 61.8mm by 8.5mm
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Weight
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14 oz.
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4.05 oz.
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Color
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Turquoise, silver, and orange
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Black and silver
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Capacity
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36 songs (both sides of a C-120 cassette tape)
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7,000 songs (32GB model)
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Removable storage
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Yes; cassettes provide access to a theoretically infinite song collection
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No
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Removable battery
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Yes (2 AA)
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No
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Stereophonic sound
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Yes
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Yes
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Recording capability
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No
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No Yes, with external microphone
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Headphone jacks
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Two, so friends could listen; “Hotline” button lowered volume so they could talk to each other
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One
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Screen resolution and color depth
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No screen
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320 by 280; 16 million colors
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Wi-Fi
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Wi-Fi standard launched 18 years after Walkman
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Yes
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Included leatherette carrying case
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Yes
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No
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Music store
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The Musicland at your local mall, with approximately 20,000 songs on cassette
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iTunes, with 8 million songs as DRM-free downloads
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DRM
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None
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Recently removed
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Beatles music available
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Yes
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Not yet
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Plays movies and TV shows
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No
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Yes
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FM radio
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No, but later models had AM, FM, TV sound, and weather band
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No, but can play many of them via Internet streaming
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Usable as telephone
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No
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Yes, via Skype over Wi-Fi
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Plays games
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I’m afraid not
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It’s the Funnest iPod Ever
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Other uses
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None of note. OK, listening to books on tape.
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50,000 applications available
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Units sold in first month
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3,000
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Not reported by Apple, but higher than 3,000
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Units sold overall
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More than 340 million for all Walkman models
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More than 173,000,000 iPods sold (as of September, 2008)
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June 29th, 2009 at 9:05 am
errr.. I’m glad you have a row on “used as a telephone” and “plays TV shows and movies”.. I couldn’t remember.. yikes!
June 29th, 2009 at 9:07 am
Two corrections. First, the Touch can record with an external microphone. Second, regarding FM radio…”There’s an app for that.” Specifically, streaming radio, but local FM channels nonetheless with available wi-fi.
June 29th, 2009 at 9:39 am
I’m pretty sure you have the dimensions for the 2 devices mixed up – the iPod Touch is 30mm (over an inch) deep?
June 29th, 2009 at 9:47 am
Yes, I flipped the dimensions–thanks for the catch!
–Harry
July 31st, 2009 at 5:59 pm
I’d totally give up an iPod Touch for a mint condition Sony TPS-L2. The mint TPS-L2 is worth more to collectors. 😛
August 25th, 2009 at 6:12 am
Cleverly adapted technology from an earlier product?
Sony? Hell yes! Officially stolen from the 1977 Stereobelt!
Invented by a german named Andreas Pavel. After the dead of Akio Morita, Sony paid Pavel.
September 24th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
POINT OF ARTICLE: None!
September 24th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Kind of a lame comparison if you’re going to use the Ipod Touch. The comparison should really should have been the Walkman and the original 5gb Ipod. Whats next Typwriter vs Toughbook?
September 24th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Great post but i dont think the dimensions of the ipod touch are 110m by 61.8mm by 8.5mm. 110m is a bit big to fit in your pocket.
September 27th, 2009 at 5:37 am
Nice comparison, i like it.
Though like the guy above said; it would have been good to compare with the original ipod
February 1st, 2012 at 3:02 pm
you need to add the recent sony walkman z to the comparison