1 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:12,399 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:19,639 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeart Podcasts and how the 4 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:25,240 Speaker 1: tech are you So? Back in twenty sixteen, an actual 5 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:28,600 Speaker 1: a group of writers writing for Time magazine, or at 6 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:32,919 Speaker 1: least Time dot Com, assembled a list of what they 7 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:37,839 Speaker 1: called the fifty most influential gadgets of all time. They 8 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 1: said that the list was quote ordered by influence end quote, 9 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:45,559 Speaker 1: and maybe that's the case. I do find it a 10 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:49,840 Speaker 1: little hard to swallow because number fifty on their list, 11 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:54,600 Speaker 1: as in the bottom of the list, was the Apple iPhone. Now, y'all, 12 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:57,800 Speaker 1: I am not the biggest fan of Apple. I don't 13 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:01,960 Speaker 1: own an iPhone, but I think if I were to 14 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: make a list of most influential gadgets of all time, 15 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 1: the iPhone would be way higher up on that list 16 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:11,319 Speaker 1: than the very bottom. You know, the iPhone really ushered 17 00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:14,200 Speaker 1: in the era of the consumer smartphone. It was not 18 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 1: the first smartphone. Apple rarely ever brings a product to 19 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 1: market as the first of its kind. They bring refined 20 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:26,839 Speaker 1: products to the market, and it was the first smartphone 21 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: to see huge success with a mainstream audience, not just 22 00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: you know, executives on the go or executives who wanted 23 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:38,880 Speaker 1: to have a technological status symbol. Plus, I mean, the 24 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:43,440 Speaker 1: entire nature of the web changed due to a shift 25 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:47,400 Speaker 1: toward mobile computing, and I think we have to lay 26 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: that largely at the feet of the Apple iPhone. While 27 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:54,720 Speaker 1: the iPhone is not the most popular smartphone in the world, 28 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 1: I think that it's really what got the trend moving 29 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:03,600 Speaker 1: toward mobile computing, and that in turn changed really like 30 00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:06,080 Speaker 1: the entire web. So I put it higher on the list. 31 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 1: But then my guess is that making a list of 32 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 1: the fifty most influential gadgets is hard in anyway. Today's 33 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:14,440 Speaker 1: episode is not about the iPhone at all. It's just 34 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:16,800 Speaker 1: this was the article that kind of launched me into 35 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:19,519 Speaker 1: where I wanted to go today. So instead of talking 36 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 1: about number fifty, because I've done episodes about the iPhone before, 37 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 1: I thought we would talk about number forty seven on 38 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 1: this list. So this is more influential than the iPhone 39 00:02:30,680 --> 00:02:33,720 Speaker 1: according to that group of writers, and it's the Sony 40 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:38,120 Speaker 1: Walkman as in the portable cassette player. It's still not 41 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:40,120 Speaker 1: very high up on the list, but you know what 42 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:42,920 Speaker 1: can you do? So the Walkman created the chance for 43 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:48,320 Speaker 1: folks to experience pre recorded audio in a pretty new way, 44 00:02:48,760 --> 00:02:51,520 Speaker 1: a way that was portable, and it let them create 45 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 1: a kind of bubble around themselves, even if they were 46 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 1: walking around in public. And it meant you weren't tethered 47 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:02,079 Speaker 1: to like a wall outlet or lugging around a large 48 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:05,520 Speaker 1: tape deck or tape recorder. So that you can listen 49 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:08,240 Speaker 1: to your pre recorded cassettes. You could just PLoP in 50 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:11,839 Speaker 1: some batteries, a pair of double A batteries into this thing. 51 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:14,720 Speaker 1: You put in your favorite audio cassette, You plug in 52 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:16,840 Speaker 1: your headphones, put them on your ears, you push play, 53 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: you head out into the world. I think it's easy 54 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:22,919 Speaker 1: for us to take for granted how portable the music 55 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:26,359 Speaker 1: experience is today. You know the fact that we had 56 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:30,600 Speaker 1: MP three players and iPods and then smartphones and streaming 57 00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:34,280 Speaker 1: services and all that that's transformed the way we experience 58 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: music in large part, But once upon a time that 59 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:40,560 Speaker 1: wasn't so much of an option. So let's turn back 60 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: the clock and learn about the development, the release, and 61 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 1: the impact of the Sony Walkman. And before we get 62 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 1: to that, we have to have some preamble, because you 63 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:51,080 Speaker 1: know this is tech stuff. You know tech stuff. I 64 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 1: like to talk about the history of technologies, and not 65 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:56,560 Speaker 1: just the technology, but the stuff that led to the 66 00:03:56,600 --> 00:04:00,480 Speaker 1: development of that tech. So let's talk about recorded media 67 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:04,480 Speaker 1: and the development of the cassette tape medium. Now I've 68 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: done full episodes about the invention of recorded media. How 69 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: one of the earliest versions was recording sound to cylinders 70 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:16,840 Speaker 1: that were coated in wax. Recording to a wax cylinder 71 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 1: essentially involved shouting into an acoustic horn, and that acoustic 72 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:24,720 Speaker 1: horn at the narrow end had a little membrane that 73 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 1: was connected to a needle, and the membrane would vibrate 74 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:32,720 Speaker 1: when sound waves would come into the horn. The needle 75 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: that vibrates would carve into the wax on the cylinder. 76 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:41,279 Speaker 1: The cylinder would be turned and the needle would start 77 00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:45,360 Speaker 1: to carve a spiral into the cylinder. You could take 78 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:49,600 Speaker 1: the carved cylinder and put that into a player, which 79 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:52,800 Speaker 1: essentially did the same process, but in reverse. You would 80 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:56,200 Speaker 1: put a stylust like another needle and fit it into 81 00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 1: the groove in the cylinder. You would begin to rotate 82 00:04:59,839 --> 00:05:03,000 Speaker 1: the cylinder. The needle would travel through the groove and 83 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: it would vibrate as it did so, which would cause 84 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:08,040 Speaker 1: a membrane to vibrate at the narrow end of an 85 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:11,400 Speaker 1: acoustic horn, and then if you listened real carefully at 86 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 1: the wide end of the acoustic horn, you would be 87 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:18,200 Speaker 1: able to hear the recorded sound, the playback of whatever 88 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 1: sound had been recorded originally. Now, it didn't take too 89 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:26,799 Speaker 1: much longer after the invention of the cylinder for various 90 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:31,440 Speaker 1: folks to come up with flat recorded discs as an alternative, 91 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:33,719 Speaker 1: so instead of a cylinder, you would just have a 92 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 1: flat disc with audio recorded on one and then eventually 93 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:42,479 Speaker 1: both sides of the disc. These would ultimately become easier 94 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:46,600 Speaker 1: to store and to produce than wax cylinders were. They 95 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:49,760 Speaker 1: were originally made all of stuff like shellac, which is 96 00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 1: essentially something that you get from insects. But eventually companies 97 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:58,560 Speaker 1: would make the shift to vinyl. While different music companies 98 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:02,680 Speaker 1: battled it out over formats, we would mostly settle on 99 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: albums playing back at either forty five revolutions per minute 100 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:10,800 Speaker 1: or thirty three in a third revolutions per minut on turntables. 101 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 1: Some older albums would actually play it like seventy eight 102 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,680 Speaker 1: revolutions per minute. Now, the record album traces its history 103 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:21,840 Speaker 1: back to the late nineteenth century. By the nineteen sixties, 104 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:26,120 Speaker 1: you know, more than half a century later, vinyl albums 105 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:29,720 Speaker 1: were the dominant form of recorded media for home use. 106 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:35,080 Speaker 1: In fact, they were almost exclusively the media format for 107 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:38,200 Speaker 1: home use unless you were really well off or maybe 108 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:41,040 Speaker 1: you worked in the music industry or something, because then 109 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:45,040 Speaker 1: you might have a real to real player. But otherwise 110 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:48,119 Speaker 1: there just wasn't any call for that. So the music 111 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:50,880 Speaker 1: industry had been relying upon real to reel players for 112 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:54,000 Speaker 1: a while in order to make master recordings of performances, 113 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:57,520 Speaker 1: as well as to edit and put together that master 114 00:06:57,600 --> 00:06:59,799 Speaker 1: in the first place. And this, of course is magnetic 115 00:06:59,839 --> 00:07:04,200 Speaker 1: tape we're talking about now. Magnetic tape also traces its 116 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:07,839 Speaker 1: evolution back to the late nineteenth century, though at that 117 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:11,640 Speaker 1: point we weren't yet talking about tape. So back in 118 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:15,440 Speaker 1: the eighteen eighties, there was this feller named Oberlin Smith, 119 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 1: which what a name, What a great name, Oberlin Smith. 120 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:24,480 Speaker 1: Oberlin reckoned that you could use magnetization to record sound 121 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:28,720 Speaker 1: onto a magnetic medium, and it would have to obviously 122 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 1: be a medium that would respond to magnetic fields. So 123 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 1: his suggestion was using like silk thread that had been 124 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:40,560 Speaker 1: coded in steel particles. And here's how he proposed such 125 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:43,880 Speaker 1: a device would work. So first, for recording, you would 126 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: have a microphone, so sound goes into the microphone, like 127 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 1: speaking into the microphone would then generate an alternating current. 128 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 1: I've done episodes about how microphones work, but essentially what 129 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:57,120 Speaker 1: you're talking about is similar to what we were talking 130 00:07:57,120 --> 00:08:00,280 Speaker 1: about with recording with wax cylinders, except instead of the 131 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:05,120 Speaker 1: membrane moving a needle to carve into wax, the vibrating 132 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:10,280 Speaker 1: membrane would interact with an electromagnet and create a current, 133 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:14,560 Speaker 1: a variable current. That current you could then use to 134 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:17,960 Speaker 1: represent the sound. You could actually just send that current 135 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 1: to an amplifier and then to a speaker, a loud speaker, 136 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 1: and that's how you get microphone to loudspeaker amplified sound. Well, 137 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:29,280 Speaker 1: in this case, you wouldn't be sending it to a loudspeaker. Instead, 138 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:32,200 Speaker 1: you'd be using that current to go to an electromagnet 139 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:37,960 Speaker 1: create a fluctuating magnetic field. And meanwhile you would run 140 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:44,640 Speaker 1: the steel dust coded string past this electromagnet, and that 141 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:49,840 Speaker 1: fluctuating magnetic field would cause the particles on that string 142 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:53,720 Speaker 1: to align a certain way according to whatever the magnetic 143 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:56,600 Speaker 1: field was at the moment that the string was running 144 00:08:56,760 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 1: past it. And because that field is in fluck, the 145 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:04,880 Speaker 1: direction of those particles would vary over time, So the 146 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:09,199 Speaker 1: string would actually become a record of the magnetic fluctuations 147 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:13,080 Speaker 1: over time. And you know, obviously the rate at which 148 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:17,319 Speaker 1: you pulled the string past this electromagnet would determine the 149 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:20,680 Speaker 1: speed of recording. So to play it back, you would 150 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:24,680 Speaker 1: put the string near a conductor essentially connected to some 151 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:28,800 Speaker 1: sort of playback device like a speaker, with an amplifier 152 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:31,280 Speaker 1: in between, because the signal you're going to get is 153 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:33,960 Speaker 1: going to be too weak to really drive a speaker. 154 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:38,400 Speaker 1: So the magnetized particles on the string when you pull 155 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:42,840 Speaker 1: it past a conductor, then you can induce current to 156 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:47,960 Speaker 1: flow through that conductor, and that current, when amplified and 157 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:50,440 Speaker 1: then sent to a speaker, would play back the recorded 158 00:09:50,520 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 1: sound used to create the record on the string in 159 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 1: the first place. Now, all Obey never build a working 160 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:03,560 Speaker 1: model of his idea. However, a Danish inventor named Valdemar 161 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:08,360 Speaker 1: Poulsen built upon this notion. He either had read about 162 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:15,480 Speaker 1: the previous concept or had come to the same conclusion independently. 163 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:18,480 Speaker 1: It's not clear which is the case, but you know, 164 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:24,760 Speaker 1: Obey didn't build it. So Valdemar creates a patent for 165 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:30,680 Speaker 1: a similar invention that he called the telegraphone, and he 166 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:33,439 Speaker 1: got the patent. He was awarded the patent for this 167 00:10:33,679 --> 00:10:37,360 Speaker 1: invention in the late eighteen hundreds, and he landed essentially 168 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:40,959 Speaker 1: a licensing deal here in America. He also landed other 169 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:43,559 Speaker 1: deals elsewhere in the world, but in America he got 170 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:46,520 Speaker 1: some folks to buy into it, and they created the 171 00:10:46,559 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 1: American Telegraphone Company of Washington, DC. So that device used 172 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:58,640 Speaker 1: like steel wire to record upon, but same sort of 173 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:02,720 Speaker 1: basic idea. You would run the steel wire past a 174 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:06,400 Speaker 1: magnet that would magnetize the wire in various alignments, and 175 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:10,240 Speaker 1: then running it back across a reader would play back 176 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:15,080 Speaker 1: the recorded medium or media I should say. In that case, well, 177 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:17,679 Speaker 1: the device didn't make that big of an impact here 178 00:11:17,679 --> 00:11:20,600 Speaker 1: in the United States. The utility was somewhat limited, and 179 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:23,440 Speaker 1: the idea was that it really would be more like 180 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:28,520 Speaker 1: a business equipment, right. It was meant for things like 181 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:31,360 Speaker 1: taking notes for dictation, that kind of thing. The sound 182 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:37,040 Speaker 1: quality wasn't fantastic. It was not really intended for pre 183 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:40,960 Speaker 1: recorded music. It wouldn't do well for that purpose. The 184 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:44,040 Speaker 1: invention actually did a little bit better in Europe than 185 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:46,200 Speaker 1: it did here in the United States. Here in the US, 186 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:49,560 Speaker 1: the business didn't stay around for very long, but other 187 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:54,760 Speaker 1: businesses that also took Polson's patent and licensed it, they 188 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:58,520 Speaker 1: were able to create a business that stood the test 189 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:01,760 Speaker 1: of time a bit better than the American version. But 190 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:05,240 Speaker 1: let's get to the development of magnetic tape. So this 191 00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:11,040 Speaker 1: approach showed that it was viable to use magnetism as 192 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:15,240 Speaker 1: a recording medium or recording method, but the steel wire 193 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:19,760 Speaker 1: just wasn't really the best approach. In the mid nineteen twenties, 194 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:23,400 Speaker 1: there was an American named Joseph O'Neill who theorized that 195 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:26,360 Speaker 1: you could quote quote a strip of paper or some 196 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:30,520 Speaker 1: other cheap material end quote with magnetic material for the 197 00:12:30,559 --> 00:12:33,720 Speaker 1: purposes of recording audio to it, and this would remove 198 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:38,240 Speaker 1: the need to use steel wire, or steel coated threads, 199 00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:42,360 Speaker 1: or steel tape. These all had limited utility. With the 200 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:45,400 Speaker 1: case of thread, there was limited resilience, like it could 201 00:12:45,440 --> 00:12:49,760 Speaker 1: eventually break or fray. So he said, why not just 202 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:54,559 Speaker 1: use a strip of material coat it with this magnetic 203 00:12:54,679 --> 00:12:58,760 Speaker 1: stuff and then use that for recording. However, while he 204 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:03,000 Speaker 1: had suggests did the concept, he didn't appear to pursue 205 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:06,240 Speaker 1: this in any serious way. As far as I am aware, 206 00:13:06,679 --> 00:13:10,200 Speaker 1: he did not produce an actual example of this. He 207 00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:13,760 Speaker 1: just kind of theorized that it could be done. Whereas 208 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:18,880 Speaker 1: a German engineer named Fritz Fleoimer had developed a method 209 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:23,079 Speaker 1: to put metal stripes on cigarette paper to want purpose. 210 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:26,320 Speaker 1: I do not know. I'm sure there was a reason 211 00:13:26,559 --> 00:13:29,520 Speaker 1: to put metal stripes on cigarette paper, but I don't 212 00:13:29,559 --> 00:13:31,800 Speaker 1: know what it was, but I didn't look it up 213 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:34,360 Speaker 1: because I've got enough bunny trails going on in this 214 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:37,480 Speaker 1: episode anyway. But he reasoned that because he had figured 215 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:40,400 Speaker 1: out how to do that how to put metal stripes 216 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:44,120 Speaker 1: on cigarette paper, he could use a similar approach to 217 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:48,760 Speaker 1: coat a strip of paper like paper tape, with magnetic material, 218 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:51,320 Speaker 1: and then the paper tape could be used as a 219 00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:54,760 Speaker 1: recording medium for audio. The process of recording and playback 220 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:58,320 Speaker 1: would be pretty similar as what it was with the telegraphones, 221 00:13:58,679 --> 00:14:02,160 Speaker 1: so not that different from steel wire or steel tape. 222 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:04,679 Speaker 1: You would still have a right head that would use 223 00:14:04,679 --> 00:14:08,960 Speaker 1: a fluctuating magnetic field to record audio. Signals sent from 224 00:14:09,559 --> 00:14:13,400 Speaker 1: a microphone to this magnetically coded paper tape as it 225 00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: passed by underneath the right head, and then later if 226 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:19,240 Speaker 1: you wanted to play it back, a playback head a 227 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:23,800 Speaker 1: red head would pick up the magnetic stripe with its 228 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:26,840 Speaker 1: particles in various alignments, and this would create the electric 229 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:31,520 Speaker 1: current that was created through induction, and then that current 230 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:34,720 Speaker 1: would get amplified by an amplifier and could then be 231 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:38,160 Speaker 1: sent as a signal to playback sound on a loudspeaker. 232 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:41,440 Speaker 1: His work in the late nineteen twenties would ultimately lead 233 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:45,120 Speaker 1: to the development of the Magnetophone K one, which he 234 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: unveiled in nineteen thirty five, which was the first practical 235 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:53,720 Speaker 1: tape recorder. Okay, so that sets the first stage for 236 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:58,000 Speaker 1: what would become the foundation for the Walkman. When we 237 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:00,320 Speaker 1: come back, I'll talk a little bit more of about 238 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:04,240 Speaker 1: Walkman prehistory, and we'll talk about Sony itself and how 239 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:08,320 Speaker 1: it came about developing the Walkman device and why it 240 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:11,640 Speaker 1: became one of the top fifty most influential gadgets in 241 00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:14,840 Speaker 1: history according to these folks in time. But first, let's 242 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:28,120 Speaker 1: take a quick break. Okay. When we left off. Before 243 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:33,560 Speaker 1: the break, I was talking about Fritz Fleoimer, a German engineer, 244 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:39,280 Speaker 1: an Austrian German engineer who developed this magnetic tape that 245 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:43,880 Speaker 1: ultimately he would unveil in nineteen thirty five, and that 246 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:47,040 Speaker 1: was the Magnetophone K one that was the first practical 247 00:15:47,360 --> 00:15:51,040 Speaker 1: tape recorder. But this was also during a time where 248 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:54,800 Speaker 1: the world was heading into World War Two. Obviously, World 249 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:59,880 Speaker 1: War two ends up being this massive conflict, and you 250 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:05,120 Speaker 1: US forces were very much interested in one learning what 251 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:09,600 Speaker 1: technology the Germans had access to and two stealing it. 252 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:13,760 Speaker 1: Now that's not just the Americans. Everybody was like this, 253 00:16:13,960 --> 00:16:18,080 Speaker 1: right in. Any country that perceived that another country had 254 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:22,960 Speaker 1: a technological advantage wanted to remove that advantage from their opponents, 255 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:25,680 Speaker 1: wanted to be able to exploit it themselves. So this 256 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:30,280 Speaker 1: was going on across all enemy lines, like everybody was 257 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:34,520 Speaker 1: spying on and stealing from everyone else, even allies in 258 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:38,120 Speaker 1: some cases. But here US forces were able to get 259 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:41,000 Speaker 1: possession of some German recording equipment as well as some 260 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:45,400 Speaker 1: German tapes, and soon Americans began developing their own version 261 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:50,440 Speaker 1: of Floimer's technology. They began to create their own magnetic 262 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:55,080 Speaker 1: tape systems and magnetic tapes themselves. By the late nineteen forties, 263 00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:59,560 Speaker 1: the recording industry had begun to use magnetic tape in 264 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:03,440 Speaker 1: order for you know, music production. Tape actually opened up 265 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:07,720 Speaker 1: a ton of new opportunities. For one thing, you could 266 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:12,199 Speaker 1: record several sessions to tape, and then you could physically 267 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:16,440 Speaker 1: cut and edit the tape to put together a master recording. 268 00:17:16,760 --> 00:17:21,840 Speaker 1: You know, maybe you have some various takes that are 269 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:25,359 Speaker 1: all pretty close to each other, but maybe take three 270 00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:29,120 Speaker 1: the band had a really great intro into the song. 271 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:32,800 Speaker 1: It just sounded really good. But take five has the 272 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:36,680 Speaker 1: best version of the bridge, and the group really nailed 273 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:40,720 Speaker 1: the ending of the song just on the second take. Now, 274 00:17:40,880 --> 00:17:44,119 Speaker 1: before the days of magnetic tape, you pretty much had 275 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:48,280 Speaker 1: to decide which of these takes was your favorite, and 276 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:51,360 Speaker 1: it may not have all the best qualities of all 277 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:54,280 Speaker 1: the best takes, but you're stuck with what you've got, 278 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:56,280 Speaker 1: and so you got to pick whichever one is going 279 00:17:56,359 --> 00:17:57,920 Speaker 1: to be the master, and that's what you go with. 280 00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:01,280 Speaker 1: But with tape, with a really good editor, you could 281 00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:04,959 Speaker 1: actually put together a recording that doesn't really exist right, 282 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:08,560 Speaker 1: or at least it doesn't exist in one performance. It's 283 00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:11,680 Speaker 1: actually a combination of performances. You could do that if 284 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:14,320 Speaker 1: you were really good with editing, and if the band 285 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:17,320 Speaker 1: was really consistent, you could actually put this together. And 286 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:19,600 Speaker 1: you could also do other things, like you could do 287 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:23,679 Speaker 1: multi track recording. You could do overdubbing. That really opened 288 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:28,560 Speaker 1: up a lot of opportunities. Overdubbing means you would record someone, 289 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:31,320 Speaker 1: Let's say it's a vocalist singing, but it could just 290 00:18:31,359 --> 00:18:34,879 Speaker 1: as easily be a musician playing some instrument like guitar 291 00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:38,359 Speaker 1: or piano or whatever, and then you've got your recording. 292 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:42,280 Speaker 1: Then you could play the recording back, and meanwhile the 293 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:46,600 Speaker 1: vocalist or musician or whatever could play their own harmonies 294 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:51,080 Speaker 1: along with the original recording, so they're accompanying themselves. They're 295 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:55,040 Speaker 1: accompanying the recorded version of themself live. Then you could 296 00:18:55,119 --> 00:18:59,199 Speaker 1: record that. That's overdubbing. This way, you could layer your 297 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:03,080 Speaker 1: recordings again, a more lush, rich sound than would be 298 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:07,040 Speaker 1: possible if you were just relying on a single artist 299 00:19:07,119 --> 00:19:10,920 Speaker 1: or band or whatever. You could really flesh sounds out 300 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:14,320 Speaker 1: that way. The tape machines in those days were often 301 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:17,760 Speaker 1: these big, real to real devices, and so it was 302 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:20,359 Speaker 1: not common for your average person to get hold of 303 00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:23,720 Speaker 1: one of those. I mean they were sold sometimes to consumers, 304 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:28,040 Speaker 1: but they were expensive and to get the actual media 305 00:19:28,080 --> 00:19:30,640 Speaker 1: was hard to There weren't a lot of places selling 306 00:19:30,720 --> 00:19:34,800 Speaker 1: real to real tape of performances, so vinyl records were 307 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:38,639 Speaker 1: still the dominant form of recorded media in the consumer space, 308 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:42,720 Speaker 1: but that would change thanks to a Dutch electronics company 309 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:47,480 Speaker 1: called Phillips. Now, the Phillips Electronics Company dated back to 310 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:51,359 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety one. Sensing a theme here, I'm sure like 311 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:54,280 Speaker 1: all these technologies and companies date back to like the 312 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:59,159 Speaker 1: late nineteenth century, Brothers Anton and Gerard Phillips created the 313 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:02,439 Speaker 1: Phillips Company in the Netherlands. Their original focus was on 314 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:06,120 Speaker 1: light bulbs, and generally the company's philosophy was that they 315 00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:10,159 Speaker 1: would aim to create high quality products, even though that 316 00:20:10,359 --> 00:20:13,240 Speaker 1: meant that their products would be priced for a fairly 317 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:15,680 Speaker 1: limited market, which is a nice way of saying their 318 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:19,400 Speaker 1: stuff was expensive. You know. Now, for a while, their 319 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:22,399 Speaker 1: company was part of a global cartel that dominated the 320 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:24,880 Speaker 1: light bulb market, and on the one hand, that did 321 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:28,720 Speaker 1: lead to forming certain standards in the light bulb industry, 322 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:31,800 Speaker 1: but on the other it arguably prevented competition in the 323 00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:36,000 Speaker 1: marketplace anyway. By the late nineteen forties, Phillips was starting 324 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:38,600 Speaker 1: to get into other types of technologies, you know, like 325 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:41,840 Speaker 1: electric shavers. But they found out the profit margins are 326 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:44,800 Speaker 1: razor thin. Not really, but I couldn't resist the pun. 327 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:48,960 Speaker 1: But in the nineteen fifties, Phillips got into the recording business. 328 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:51,760 Speaker 1: They launched a music label. They later in the nineteen 329 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:56,680 Speaker 1: sixties acquired smaller record labels like Mercury Records. And they 330 00:20:56,680 --> 00:20:58,960 Speaker 1: were also thinking, well, how can we also be in 331 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:02,919 Speaker 1: the business of the the medium upon which recorded music 332 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:06,359 Speaker 1: can go. So an engineer at Phillips named lew Atten's 333 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:09,560 Speaker 1: worked out of an office in Belgium where he was 334 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:13,000 Speaker 1: pioneering a new technology that would bring magnetic tape media 335 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:16,960 Speaker 1: to home consumers. This was in nineteen sixty two and 336 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:20,359 Speaker 1: the invention that he pioneered was the cassette tape. This 337 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:23,600 Speaker 1: tape would use a very thin strip of plastic film 338 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:27,479 Speaker 1: coded in magnetic material. The film would wrap around a 339 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:31,239 Speaker 1: pair of reels. Those reels would be encased inside a 340 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: plastic cartridge. On the outside of this cartridge you would 341 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:38,040 Speaker 1: see like the two holes that'd be the center of 342 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:40,760 Speaker 1: these two reels. They'd be pronged so that they could 343 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:45,080 Speaker 1: fit onto a tape player's spokes, and a small length 344 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:48,400 Speaker 1: of this tape is obviously uncovered. That section could be 345 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:52,080 Speaker 1: then inserted into a tape recorder for recording or playback. 346 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:56,760 Speaker 1: The cassette was such a small form factor that immediately 347 00:21:56,800 --> 00:22:00,600 Speaker 1: people saw advantages over larger reel to reel machine that 348 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:04,000 Speaker 1: were far more bulky and expensive. Now, the initial plan 349 00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:06,960 Speaker 1: for the audio cassette was to sell them as business 350 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:09,840 Speaker 1: tools like this was an idea like again, for dictation 351 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:12,600 Speaker 1: and taking notes and that kind of stuff. It didn't 352 00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:16,960 Speaker 1: take long, however, before Phillips and other companies said, hey, 353 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:20,840 Speaker 1: what if we put pre recorded music on these and 354 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:24,199 Speaker 1: sold them like we do with vinyl albums. Now you 355 00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:27,680 Speaker 1: might wonder what artist was the first to offer an 356 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:31,680 Speaker 1: album on cassette tape. The answer to that is unclear. 357 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:37,119 Speaker 1: Christian Romer has a blog post on legacybox dot com 358 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:41,399 Speaker 1: about this and lists a few potential contenders for the 359 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:45,520 Speaker 1: first album on cassette tape. One is Nina Simone's Wild 360 00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:49,919 Speaker 1: Is the Wind. Another is Johnny Mathis's The Shadow of 361 00:22:49,960 --> 00:22:54,480 Speaker 1: Your Smile, But my favorite is Eartha Kit's Love for 362 00:22:54,680 --> 00:23:00,720 Speaker 1: Sale album. I Love Eartha Kit, What an amazing, But 363 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:04,040 Speaker 1: as Romer points out, no one was really documenting the 364 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:07,560 Speaker 1: history of albums on cassette when they first started to 365 00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:10,439 Speaker 1: become a thing, so it's unclear what the actual answer 366 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:12,520 Speaker 1: is of who was first. I would also like to 367 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:15,720 Speaker 1: point out that music labels likely produced more than just 368 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:18,960 Speaker 1: one album on cassette at a time, because it seems 369 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:21,119 Speaker 1: like an odd choice to just go with let's just 370 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:24,200 Speaker 1: do one and see how it goes. Someone's album obviously 371 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:26,720 Speaker 1: had to be the first off the manufacturing line, but 372 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:30,119 Speaker 1: I think that's just splitting hairs. At that point, cassettes 373 00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:33,800 Speaker 1: were easier to store than vinyl albums, they took up 374 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:37,639 Speaker 1: less space. They did have their own peculiarities. However, if 375 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:41,000 Speaker 1: you brought a cassette tape near a strong magnet, well 376 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:43,320 Speaker 1: you just screwed up the recording on your cassette tape 377 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:46,760 Speaker 1: because the magnetic particles on the tape would realign to 378 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:51,160 Speaker 1: this new powerful magnetic field, so effectively you would erase 379 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:54,720 Speaker 1: your cassette. Anyone who had cassette tapes also knows the 380 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:59,080 Speaker 1: pain of tape getting snagged on something and then unreeling 381 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:02,200 Speaker 1: from inside the cassette. You would just have this massive 382 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:06,879 Speaker 1: plastic film just unspooled from outside inside the cassette. Now 383 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:09,560 Speaker 1: it's outside the cassette. So to fix that you would 384 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:13,440 Speaker 1: have to do the old standby, which is what I 385 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:16,520 Speaker 1: call inserting a pencil into the spokes on one reel 386 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:20,520 Speaker 1: and gently coaxing the tape back into place by twisting 387 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:24,040 Speaker 1: the pencil slowly, one twist at a time. What a 388 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:27,760 Speaker 1: joy that was. But you know, while the cassette media 389 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:32,199 Speaker 1: was far more portable than vinyl, the players weren't that 390 00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:35,199 Speaker 1: much more portable, at least not at first. I mean, 391 00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:39,840 Speaker 1: they were smaller than turntables, but they weren't pocket sized, 392 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:44,439 Speaker 1: you know. Tape decks, like tape recorders, were still fairly large. 393 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:48,000 Speaker 1: They were too large to carry around easily. Like you 394 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:50,960 Speaker 1: could put a strap on one and wear it around 395 00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:54,200 Speaker 1: your neck like it was like a handbag or something, 396 00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:57,480 Speaker 1: but it was still pretty bulky. A lot of tape 397 00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:00,600 Speaker 1: decks did have headphone jacks, but not all of because 398 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:03,439 Speaker 1: a lot of them had a built in speaker in 399 00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:06,040 Speaker 1: the tape deck itself, so you would just push play 400 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:08,119 Speaker 1: and listen to the music coming straight out of the 401 00:25:08,119 --> 00:25:11,239 Speaker 1: tape deck. It's usually pretty tinny. It wasn't typically a 402 00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:14,600 Speaker 1: very good quality of sound. But it worked. But yeah, 403 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:18,240 Speaker 1: it wasn't necessarily the case that a tape deck would 404 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:21,000 Speaker 1: have a headphone jack. A lot of them did, but 405 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:24,120 Speaker 1: it wasn't a sure thing, and that's kind of where 406 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:27,959 Speaker 1: things sat for about a decade. But now let's flash 407 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:32,000 Speaker 1: forward to the nineteen seventies in Japan. So the story 408 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 1: goes that one of Sony's co founders, a guy named 409 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:40,360 Speaker 1: Masaru Ibuka, wanted to be able to listen to albums 410 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:43,520 Speaker 1: on a portable playback device. Specifically, he wanted to be 411 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:46,560 Speaker 1: able to listen to opera. He took lots of flights. 412 00:25:47,040 --> 00:25:50,560 Speaker 1: Being the head of a major electronics company in Japan, 413 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:53,080 Speaker 1: he had to fly a lot, and he liked to 414 00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:55,879 Speaker 1: listen to opera, and he wanted a way to bring 415 00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:58,920 Speaker 1: opera albums with him on flights so that he wasn't 416 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:01,280 Speaker 1: having to pay attention to everything else that's going on 417 00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:04,920 Speaker 1: on a plane. And he asked his engineers to look 418 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:07,360 Speaker 1: into a way to achieve this goal, like how could 419 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:11,400 Speaker 1: he listen to stuff on a device that was small 420 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:13,600 Speaker 1: enough for him to easily bring it with him on 421 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:18,359 Speaker 1: a flight. And a designer named Noria Oga got the 422 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:22,639 Speaker 1: high pressure assignment of figuring out how to make something 423 00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:27,000 Speaker 1: that Ebuka would appreciate. So then Oga turns to a 424 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:30,520 Speaker 1: product that Sony had already started producing at that point. 425 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:33,080 Speaker 1: This was a product that they were producing for the 426 00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:37,760 Speaker 1: business market, and it was a small handheld tape recorder 427 00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:41,880 Speaker 1: called the TCM one hundred B. It was also known 428 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:45,080 Speaker 1: as the Pressman because they were thinking that this would 429 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:48,159 Speaker 1: be a device that reporters for newspapers would want to 430 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:50,600 Speaker 1: use in order to make verbal notes. That kind of 431 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:53,760 Speaker 1: thing did not digital, but recorded notes, and so it 432 00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:57,359 Speaker 1: was a handheld cassette recorder for voice memos and stuff. 433 00:26:57,560 --> 00:26:59,600 Speaker 1: It was small enough that you could hold it in 434 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:02,400 Speaker 1: one hand and you would operate it by pressing the 435 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:05,440 Speaker 1: various buttons, and they had buttons for stuff like rewind 436 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:09,200 Speaker 1: and fast forward and record and play. You know, all 437 00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:12,280 Speaker 1: the basic functions of your tape deck all built in. 438 00:27:12,720 --> 00:27:17,200 Speaker 1: So the base elements for a Walkman were already present 439 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:20,680 Speaker 1: in the Pressman. So Oga just used the Pressman as 440 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:23,640 Speaker 1: kind of a launching pad, and he created a prototype 441 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:27,359 Speaker 1: portable cassette player. He worked with engineers to take the 442 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:31,600 Speaker 1: Pressman and tweak the design of that product. So one 443 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:34,679 Speaker 1: thing they did was they removed the recording feature, so 444 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:38,120 Speaker 1: it was purely a playback device, not a recording device. 445 00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:41,800 Speaker 1: They also changed it so that the Pressman was monaural 446 00:27:42,119 --> 00:27:45,440 Speaker 1: mono in other words, so you didn't have two different 447 00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:48,880 Speaker 1: channels of sound going to the different speakers in your headset. 448 00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:51,840 Speaker 1: It was all mono. They changed it to stereo so 449 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:54,960 Speaker 1: it would be able to support stereo recording. He then 450 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:58,160 Speaker 1: gave this prototype to Abuka before Abuka was to go 451 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:01,880 Speaker 1: on another flight around world to do business e things 452 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:03,920 Speaker 1: in order to test it out, and Abuka must have 453 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:07,679 Speaker 1: really liked the result because Sony would then go on 454 00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:11,600 Speaker 1: to produce the Walkman portable cassette player the following year, 455 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:14,760 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy nine. Now, this was never a sure thing. 456 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:18,040 Speaker 1: In fact, within the company, there was a lot of 457 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:20,520 Speaker 1: resistance to this idea. There were a lot of executives 458 00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:22,640 Speaker 1: who said, I don't know about this. I don't think 459 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:26,600 Speaker 1: there's actually a market big enough to support the production 460 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:32,200 Speaker 1: and marketing of a portable cassette player. But then Sony's 461 00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:36,040 Speaker 1: other co founder, a guy named Marita Akio, saw the 462 00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:39,960 Speaker 1: potential for great success and he said, no, Abuka was right, 463 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:43,000 Speaker 1: like this wasn't just a project for Abuka so he 464 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:45,040 Speaker 1: could listen to music when he was on his flights. 465 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:49,520 Speaker 1: This thing could be a real blockbuster hit for our company. 466 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:53,200 Speaker 1: So with the support of the co founders, the company 467 00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:58,320 Speaker 1: did go into the development for a consumer portable cassette 468 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:02,520 Speaker 1: player and they began to develop the Walkman. All right, 469 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:04,680 Speaker 1: we're going to take another quick break. When we come back, 470 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:07,600 Speaker 1: I'll talk more about the Walkman story and its place 471 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:21,320 Speaker 1: in history. So, with the support of Sony's co founder's engineers, 472 00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:24,800 Speaker 1: that Sony got to work in creating a consumer version 473 00:29:25,400 --> 00:29:29,760 Speaker 1: of the prototype that Oga had created for Ibuka, and 474 00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:36,480 Speaker 1: they created a device that had the designation TPSL two, 475 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:41,200 Speaker 1: but it would get the name Walkman. Akio came up 476 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:42,960 Speaker 1: with that name and said it should be called the 477 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:45,880 Speaker 1: Walkman because you can walk around with it and listen 478 00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:51,280 Speaker 1: to music. Pressman the voice recording device that was for 479 00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:54,959 Speaker 1: the press. Walkman is for walking around and listening to 480 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:59,000 Speaker 1: your music, and they launched it in Japan in July 481 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:03,440 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy nine for the equivalent of around one hundred 482 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:07,000 Speaker 1: and fifty dollars, which is a big o' yikes. One 483 00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:11,120 Speaker 1: hundred fifty dollars in nineteen seventy nine. The United States 484 00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:15,120 Speaker 1: would not get the Walkman until nineteen eighty. Meanwhile, you 485 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:18,880 Speaker 1: might wonder, okay, one hundred fifty bucks in nineteen seventy nine, 486 00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:22,959 Speaker 1: what would that be equivalent to today? Well, using a 487 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:27,040 Speaker 1: handy dandy inflation calculator, that comes out to around six 488 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:32,240 Speaker 1: hundred forty six dollars for a portable cassette player. Keep 489 00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:35,680 Speaker 1: in mind that the original Walkman didn't have recording capabilities. 490 00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:40,400 Speaker 1: Just playback Holy cats, y'all. That is as incredibly expensive. 491 00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:43,160 Speaker 1: Like again, I always think about things like video game 492 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:46,720 Speaker 1: consoles that launch for around five hundred to seven hundred dollars, 493 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:49,120 Speaker 1: and people talk about how expensive that is. Keep in 494 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:53,040 Speaker 1: mind that original Walkman would have set you back six 495 00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:56,600 Speaker 1: hundred forty six dollars, more than what some video game 496 00:30:56,640 --> 00:31:01,480 Speaker 1: consoles launch at. That's expensive now. When it did launch 497 00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:03,640 Speaker 1: in the United States, the original name for the device 498 00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:07,760 Speaker 1: wasn't the Walkman, it was the Soundabout which sounds about 499 00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:11,520 Speaker 1: wrong to me anyway. But eventually Sony would migrate back 500 00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:14,480 Speaker 1: to the Walkman, which was a Buka's suggestion from the 501 00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:17,200 Speaker 1: get go and occhio suggestion. The two of them argued 502 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:20,840 Speaker 1: that it should have been that from the beginning. Interestingly, 503 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:27,680 Speaker 1: there was a dispute about the origins of the Walkman 504 00:31:27,920 --> 00:31:32,280 Speaker 1: concept because there was another inventor who came up with 505 00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:37,040 Speaker 1: a very similar idea and in fact patented that idea 506 00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:41,760 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy seven, two years before the Walkman came out. Now, 507 00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:49,000 Speaker 1: this inventor was Andreas Pavel, who had an invention that 508 00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:52,960 Speaker 1: he called the stereo Belt. And as the name suggests, 509 00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:58,840 Speaker 1: the stereo belt was a belt that had audio equipment 510 00:31:58,880 --> 00:32:02,280 Speaker 1: attached to it, which included a battery pack as well 511 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:06,480 Speaker 1: as audio players, and you would connect headphones to this 512 00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:09,440 Speaker 1: belt in order to listen to it. So not exactly 513 00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:12,880 Speaker 1: the same thing as the Walkman, but the idea that 514 00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:17,440 Speaker 1: being a portable music playing device is what made it 515 00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:24,000 Speaker 1: similar to Walkman. Eventually, Pavel would bring lawsuits against Sony 516 00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:28,320 Speaker 1: in various regions, arguing that there was a patent infringement 517 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:32,640 Speaker 1: going on that Sony had essentially copied the design that 518 00:32:32,680 --> 00:32:36,640 Speaker 1: Pavel had created without paying for it, without licensing it. 519 00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:42,560 Speaker 1: In several places, these complaints were ultimately dismissed. In other places, 520 00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:46,680 Speaker 1: Sony would settle out of court with Pavel rather than 521 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:51,160 Speaker 1: have to go through the whole process of a legal proceedings, 522 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:54,160 Speaker 1: which can be really expensive even if you win. So 523 00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:59,440 Speaker 1: while Sony never admitted any fault in this, they did 524 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:03,880 Speaker 1: eventually pay a pretty hefty settlement out of court. Anyway, 525 00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:07,600 Speaker 1: back to the Walkmen, so I mentioned earlier. The Walkmen 526 00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:10,480 Speaker 1: ran on a pair of double A batteries, which was great. 527 00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:14,000 Speaker 1: You know, their batteries weren't too expensive. You could take 528 00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:16,080 Speaker 1: them on the go, you didn't have to be tethered 529 00:33:16,120 --> 00:33:21,560 Speaker 1: to an outlet. They did require headphones because the Walkman 530 00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:25,040 Speaker 1: had no on board speaker. If you pushed play on 531 00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:27,080 Speaker 1: a Walkman and there were no headphones plugged into it, 532 00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:29,840 Speaker 1: all you would hear would be the gears turning as 533 00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:35,600 Speaker 1: the spokes were being rotated by the player itself. Sony 534 00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:39,720 Speaker 1: made around thirty thousand units initially in nineteen seventy nine 535 00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:43,479 Speaker 1: when they launched it in Japan, and sales were a 536 00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:46,760 Speaker 1: little slow in the beginning. However, Sony used some good 537 00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:49,560 Speaker 1: old fashioned elbow grease to get interest up in the product, 538 00:33:49,640 --> 00:33:53,240 Speaker 1: and by that I mean that Sony employees would literally 539 00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:57,000 Speaker 1: hit the streets in Japan with a Walkman and cassettes 540 00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:00,720 Speaker 1: and find people out there on the street and have 541 00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:04,640 Speaker 1: them listen to cassettes on the Walkmen and let them 542 00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:08,000 Speaker 1: have the experience of this portable music player. And it worked. 543 00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:13,919 Speaker 1: That marketing push really was effective. By August, just two 544 00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:17,640 Speaker 1: months after they launched, Sony had sold out of their 545 00:34:17,680 --> 00:34:20,319 Speaker 1: initial run of units. They were hoping for around like 546 00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:23,360 Speaker 1: five thousand units a month. Instead they sold thirty thousand 547 00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:27,280 Speaker 1: and two months. Pretty incredible. Now, not everyone was super 548 00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:31,279 Speaker 1: happy about the Walkmen and its success in the marketplace, 549 00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:33,680 Speaker 1: like it also saw great success here in the United 550 00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:36,160 Speaker 1: States once it came out in nineteen eighty, but not 551 00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:39,120 Speaker 1: everybody was really thrilled about this. There were people who 552 00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:42,920 Speaker 1: were warning that this technology was inspiring young folks to 553 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:46,640 Speaker 1: shut themselves away from the world even while they were 554 00:34:46,680 --> 00:34:52,000 Speaker 1: walking around in the world, rather than being engaged in 555 00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:56,879 Speaker 1: the wholesome surroundings. Undoubtedly learning great moral lessons from their 556 00:34:57,040 --> 00:35:02,120 Speaker 1: wise elders. These wholigans would be listening to their Bob 557 00:35:02,239 --> 00:35:07,560 Speaker 1: Dylan's and their Judas priests at even their smothers brothers 558 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:11,840 Speaker 1: on headphones and blocking out the outside world and allowing 559 00:35:11,880 --> 00:35:15,719 Speaker 1: themselves to be shaped by the evil, wicked whims of 560 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:21,040 Speaker 1: professional musicians. Oh the humanity. I'm making fun of it, 561 00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:24,880 Speaker 1: but the moral panic was real, right, There was moral 562 00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:31,360 Speaker 1: panic around portable cassette players. It just shows that fuddy 563 00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:35,160 Speaker 1: duddies will find moral panic in the oddest of places. 564 00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:38,240 Speaker 1: Heaven help you if you have to also play dungeons 565 00:35:38,239 --> 00:35:41,160 Speaker 1: and dragons while listening to music on a Walkman, because 566 00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:45,920 Speaker 1: you were just destined for h double hockey sticks. Alan Bloom, 567 00:35:46,040 --> 00:35:49,880 Speaker 1: the author, said essentially as much in a book titled 568 00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:53,919 Speaker 1: The Closing of the American Mind. Bloom argued that young 569 00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:57,520 Speaker 1: people listening to personal music devices would eventually lead to 570 00:35:57,680 --> 00:36:03,360 Speaker 1: moral decay. Pretty crazy stuff. Sony would release many follow 571 00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:06,359 Speaker 1: ups to the original Walkman, so there were lots of 572 00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:10,640 Speaker 1: improvements over the device over the following models. Some of 573 00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:13,839 Speaker 1: them were even smaller. Some of them would incorporate a 574 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:18,879 Speaker 1: record function because people missed having that. The Walkman would 575 00:36:18,880 --> 00:36:22,279 Speaker 1: also become almost synonymous with portable cassette players, kind of 576 00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:25,799 Speaker 1: like how the iPod would become almost synonymous with MP 577 00:36:25,880 --> 00:36:29,840 Speaker 1: three players. Folks would use the term Walkman even if 578 00:36:29,880 --> 00:36:32,800 Speaker 1: they were talking about a product from a competing company. 579 00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:35,759 Speaker 1: You know, it wasn't a portable cassette player, It was 580 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:38,920 Speaker 1: a Walkman. Even if it wasn't actually a Walkman, which 581 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:40,560 Speaker 1: meant that Sony had to do a lot of work 582 00:36:40,600 --> 00:36:44,640 Speaker 1: to protect their trademark. Now, around the same time, you 583 00:36:44,719 --> 00:36:48,840 Speaker 1: had the fate of the cassette tape itself. So initially, 584 00:36:48,880 --> 00:36:52,120 Speaker 1: cassette sales were going very strong in the nineteen eighties, 585 00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:57,040 Speaker 1: but cassettes didn't totally replace vinyl records. For one thing, 586 00:36:57,080 --> 00:37:01,520 Speaker 1: you had music lovers who would call themselves audio files, 587 00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:05,520 Speaker 1: who would tend to prefer vinyl records over cassette tapes. 588 00:37:05,719 --> 00:37:10,120 Speaker 1: That cassettes could warp over time, you would get audio distortion, 589 00:37:10,360 --> 00:37:13,839 Speaker 1: you would get a hiss. There was a hiss associated 590 00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:18,840 Speaker 1: with audio cassettes, and therefore people who really valued the 591 00:37:19,000 --> 00:37:22,560 Speaker 1: experience of listening to music on high end equipment tended 592 00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:26,360 Speaker 1: to prefer vinyl to cassette tapes. However, the convenience of 593 00:37:26,440 --> 00:37:29,319 Speaker 1: cassette tapes plus the fact that you could purchase a 594 00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:32,080 Speaker 1: blank cassette and then record stuff to make your own tapes, 595 00:37:32,080 --> 00:37:37,800 Speaker 1: and thus giving birth to the cultural phenomenon of the mixtape. Now, 596 00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:41,000 Speaker 1: making a mixtape that's an art form unto itself. That 597 00:37:41,200 --> 00:37:44,680 Speaker 1: meant that the cassette had a really firm foothold and culture, 598 00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:47,960 Speaker 1: and the incorporation of tape decks into car entertainment systems 599 00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:51,800 Speaker 1: helped too. This gets complicated by the introduction of eight tracks, 600 00:37:52,080 --> 00:37:55,160 Speaker 1: but that's a different matter. Anyway, it appeared as though 601 00:37:55,239 --> 00:37:59,680 Speaker 1: the party would never end. In nineteen eighty four Billboard 602 00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:03,319 Speaker 1: report the cassette tape sales were outpacing vinyl LPs for 603 00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:06,120 Speaker 1: the first time, and at that point made up around 604 00:38:06,160 --> 00:38:09,960 Speaker 1: fifty three percent of all albums shipped. Now that shipped 605 00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:15,440 Speaker 1: not necessarily sold, but still cassettes were clearly making a 606 00:38:15,440 --> 00:38:18,360 Speaker 1: lot of headway. They were easy to manufacture, They again 607 00:38:18,440 --> 00:38:20,359 Speaker 1: took up less space, You could sell a whole lot 608 00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:23,319 Speaker 1: more of them, You could get a lot more in 609 00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:26,440 Speaker 1: stock at a record store than you could with vinyl, 610 00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:32,319 Speaker 1: and yeah, people were digging them. However, the introduction of 611 00:38:32,360 --> 00:38:35,160 Speaker 1: the compact disc, which also was introduced in the early 612 00:38:35,239 --> 00:38:39,320 Speaker 1: nineteen eighties, would ultimately set the stage for the cassette's decline. Now, 613 00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:43,320 Speaker 1: it would take quite a few years for compact discs 614 00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:47,680 Speaker 1: to really establish themselves in the market, particularly since early 615 00:38:47,800 --> 00:38:53,759 Speaker 1: CD players were ridiculously expensive, like just prohibitively expensive for 616 00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:58,200 Speaker 1: most people. However, over time CDs would start to catch on, 617 00:38:58,320 --> 00:39:01,200 Speaker 1: and cassette sales began to take a turn, just as 618 00:39:01,280 --> 00:39:05,040 Speaker 1: vinyl had done before it. In nineteen ninety one, CD 619 00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:09,040 Speaker 1: sales were higher, at least from a dollar value, than 620 00:39:09,080 --> 00:39:12,000 Speaker 1: cassette sales. It doesn't mean that there were more CDs sold, 621 00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:17,200 Speaker 1: but more money was made selling CDs than cassettes starting 622 00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:20,840 Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety one. So the nineties saw the decline 623 00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:24,480 Speaker 1: of cassette sales continue, with more and more people switching 624 00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:29,200 Speaker 1: to CDs. Vinyl became an almost obsolete format for the 625 00:39:29,239 --> 00:39:32,440 Speaker 1: general public. It never fully went away, and of course 626 00:39:32,520 --> 00:39:36,000 Speaker 1: it's enjoyed a resurgence in more recent years, but in 627 00:39:36,040 --> 00:39:40,600 Speaker 1: the nineties and early two thousands it almost disappeared. Cassettes 628 00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:44,399 Speaker 1: did enjoy a brief little bit of a comeback. I mean, 629 00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:48,320 Speaker 1: I guess arguably it's still going now because some artists 630 00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:52,800 Speaker 1: have released some of their albums on cassette formats, including 631 00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:56,319 Speaker 1: like Megan D. Stallion and Taylor Swift, but it's not 632 00:39:56,560 --> 00:40:01,480 Speaker 1: like a common thing. Cassette sales in general were pretty low, 633 00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:04,440 Speaker 1: and that also meant that cassette players weren't really flying 634 00:40:04,440 --> 00:40:07,000 Speaker 1: off store shelves either, so it didn't make much sense 635 00:40:07,040 --> 00:40:09,800 Speaker 1: to keep making them, which brings us to our sad 636 00:40:10,360 --> 00:40:14,640 Speaker 1: little tail coming to a close here, because Sony actually 637 00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:17,239 Speaker 1: did continue producing the Walkman all the way through the 638 00:40:17,320 --> 00:40:20,279 Speaker 1: nineteen nineties and all through the first decade of the 639 00:40:20,320 --> 00:40:23,719 Speaker 1: two thousands, despite the plunge in cassette sales over that 640 00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:27,560 Speaker 1: time period. But in twenty ten, Sony threw in the 641 00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:30,520 Speaker 1: towel and announced it would shut down the portable cassette 642 00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:36,000 Speaker 1: player line, so the Walkman cassette player would be no more. 643 00:40:36,640 --> 00:40:39,640 Speaker 1: They stopped production in twenty ten. It however, was not 644 00:40:39,760 --> 00:40:43,680 Speaker 1: the end of the Walkman as a brand, because Sony 645 00:40:43,800 --> 00:40:47,239 Speaker 1: gave the Walkman brand to other products that were also 646 00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:50,440 Speaker 1: in the music space. They just weren't cassette players. So 647 00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:55,160 Speaker 1: the main one would be digital music players, digital audio 648 00:40:55,200 --> 00:40:59,040 Speaker 1: players or DAPs, and this is what I would often 649 00:40:59,160 --> 00:41:01,720 Speaker 1: just call an MP three player back in the old days. 650 00:41:02,080 --> 00:41:06,680 Speaker 1: Like the Apple iPod, Sony started introducing digital audio players 651 00:41:06,719 --> 00:41:09,439 Speaker 1: way back in nineteen ninety nine, which is actually two 652 00:41:09,560 --> 00:41:13,320 Speaker 1: years before Apple would introduce the iPod, but Sony's version 653 00:41:13,400 --> 00:41:17,520 Speaker 1: initially only supported a proprietary digital audio format called a 654 00:41:17,719 --> 00:41:22,080 Speaker 1: track at r AC. Sony had control over that file 655 00:41:22,160 --> 00:41:26,920 Speaker 1: format and felt like this would protect Sony's interests in 656 00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:30,239 Speaker 1: the actual music production side. In other words, this was 657 00:41:30,280 --> 00:41:35,360 Speaker 1: a way to prevent piracy. Sony specifically did not want 658 00:41:35,520 --> 00:41:40,160 Speaker 1: to support file formats like MP three. Now, the Walkmen 659 00:41:40,960 --> 00:41:45,279 Speaker 1: would ultimately fall well behind the iPod in sales in 660 00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:49,000 Speaker 1: most countries. When it got to digital audio players. The 661 00:41:49,040 --> 00:41:53,080 Speaker 1: Walkman did okay in Japan, but outside Japan it just 662 00:41:53,239 --> 00:41:56,640 Speaker 1: it could not compete against the iPod. However, you can 663 00:41:56,680 --> 00:42:00,680 Speaker 1: still find digital audio players that are branded as walk today, 664 00:42:00,840 --> 00:42:05,280 Speaker 1: including high end players that cost a whole bunch of money, 665 00:42:05,360 --> 00:42:09,040 Speaker 1: like more than one thousand dollars for some of these devices. 666 00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:11,520 Speaker 1: I think that's a pretty tall order. When we live 667 00:42:11,560 --> 00:42:14,279 Speaker 1: in a world where smartphones have access to tons of 668 00:42:14,400 --> 00:42:19,600 Speaker 1: music through various music streaming platforms. Now, sure, the fidelity 669 00:42:19,760 --> 00:42:23,319 Speaker 1: isn't necessarily top notch, you know, that depends on the 670 00:42:23,360 --> 00:42:26,319 Speaker 1: streaming service, the format they use, how much compression is 671 00:42:26,400 --> 00:42:29,560 Speaker 1: used for the files, and what kind of headphones or 672 00:42:29,600 --> 00:42:32,520 Speaker 1: headset you're using to listen to it. However, I think 673 00:42:32,520 --> 00:42:35,520 Speaker 1: for the majority of people out there, the convenience and 674 00:42:35,560 --> 00:42:39,960 Speaker 1: accessibility that is presented through smartphones that ends up being 675 00:42:40,000 --> 00:42:44,440 Speaker 1: more important than musical fidelity. For most people, not everybody. 676 00:42:44,800 --> 00:42:47,719 Speaker 1: Some folks are more concerned with the quality of the experience. 677 00:42:48,000 --> 00:42:50,880 Speaker 1: I think that's legitimate. I think it's legit to really 678 00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:54,880 Speaker 1: want the absolute best quality of sound. However, that is 679 00:42:54,880 --> 00:42:58,479 Speaker 1: also a very subjective thing, right. You could have two 680 00:42:58,560 --> 00:43:01,480 Speaker 1: people and they can have the same taste in music, 681 00:43:01,560 --> 00:43:04,560 Speaker 1: but they might have very different perceptions of what set 682 00:43:04,640 --> 00:43:09,520 Speaker 1: up is best, and you can't, you know, necessarily agree 683 00:43:09,640 --> 00:43:12,840 Speaker 1: on a common standard. The world of high fidelity audio 684 00:43:13,440 --> 00:43:15,880 Speaker 1: is filled with a lot of marketing that strikes me 685 00:43:16,200 --> 00:43:19,880 Speaker 1: as being just a stone's throw away from pure pseudoscience. 686 00:43:20,120 --> 00:43:22,719 Speaker 1: But I've talked about that before, so I'll leave it 687 00:43:22,719 --> 00:43:25,759 Speaker 1: for now. So the cassette Walkman has been out of 688 00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:29,280 Speaker 1: production since twenty ten. The brand still exists for digital 689 00:43:29,320 --> 00:43:33,080 Speaker 1: audio players, and some artists do continue to put stuff 690 00:43:33,080 --> 00:43:37,040 Speaker 1: out on cassette because nostalgia is a hell of a drug. Personally, 691 00:43:37,320 --> 00:43:41,359 Speaker 1: I do miss the days of putting together the perfect mixtape. 692 00:43:41,520 --> 00:43:44,520 Speaker 1: There's something really special about getting one just right, like 693 00:43:44,920 --> 00:43:48,200 Speaker 1: finding that right progress of songs so that you know 694 00:43:48,239 --> 00:43:51,160 Speaker 1: you've got like the really high energy number comes in 695 00:43:51,200 --> 00:43:53,560 Speaker 1: at song number three, and then you've got a cool 696 00:43:53,719 --> 00:43:56,120 Speaker 1: down number for song number four that kind of thing. 697 00:43:56,640 --> 00:43:59,680 Speaker 1: Making a curated playlist doesn't really scratch the same itch 698 00:43:59,719 --> 00:44:04,320 Speaker 1: for me. There's something really tactle about using cassette tapes 699 00:44:04,560 --> 00:44:07,839 Speaker 1: and creating a mixtape that way, and slapping a really 700 00:44:07,840 --> 00:44:10,560 Speaker 1: good mixtape into a portable music player and then just 701 00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:12,879 Speaker 1: going for a walk is a pleasure that I think 702 00:44:13,160 --> 00:44:16,040 Speaker 1: people should really seek out if they're able to. That 703 00:44:16,160 --> 00:44:18,680 Speaker 1: kind of thing is just one of the simple pleasures 704 00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:22,560 Speaker 1: of life if it's accessible to you. I hope that 705 00:44:22,680 --> 00:44:25,359 Speaker 1: this episode was interesting to all of y'all. I hope 706 00:44:25,360 --> 00:44:28,440 Speaker 1: you're doing well, and I will talk to you again 707 00:44:29,320 --> 00:44:39,239 Speaker 1: really soon. Tech Stuff is an iHeartRadio production. For more 708 00:44:39,280 --> 00:44:44,040 Speaker 1: podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 709 00:44:44,040 --> 00:44:49,480 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.