The WalkPod
Have a bunch of old cassette tapes lying around? Love to listen to digital music? Why not combine the two and start using the new WalkPod? Ok, it’s not real (as if you haven’t figured that out already!), but I thought it was a pretty creative way to make fun of our technology history.
The really amazing thing is the switch of the “king of portable music” that occurred when the iPod came out. Back in the 80’s, everyone (including me) had a Walkman that we used everywhere — on the subway, working out, wherever we wanted to. Sony was the king of the hill and was enjoying every minute of it. In fact, “Walkman” became a universal word like “Q-Tip” or “Kleenex”, which of course, pissed off a lot of companies that were not actually selling a Walkman.
Then the iPod came out and the portability of music changed forever. It continues to change and morph into a slicker, more powerful media device. And the worst thing for Sony? I, for one, cannot tell you the name of the iPod-related device that they sell to compete against it. I think I had heard “Network Walkman” before, but that sounds way too “Tron” for me.
I guess I could go to their site and find out what MP3 players they sell — but that proves my point! I shouldn’t have to go to their site to figure it out. The name of their product should be as familiar to me as iPod is. And it’s not. Apple won this round. Sony lost. The lesson for Apple, however, should be that they should look at what happened to the Walkman and make sure that their iPod doesn’t follow the same fate in the future.
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