The Walkman changed how we listen to music — all of a sudden, we could transport our music wherever we wanted in something that ostensibly could fit in your pocket.
Celebrating the portable cassette player’s 40th anniversary at the IFA 2019 Trade Show in Berlin, Sony announced an unusual anniversary edition of the Walkman. The NW-A100TPS is actually a 3.6-inch touchscreen running on Android with a 16GB music player built in. Yep, no tapes here, except for the cassette player screensaver on the device surface and a soft case that resembles the early Walkman shell.
Nice reminder from #SonyIFA that #Sony changed how we listened on the move with #walkman and now a 40th anniversary edition #IFA19 pic.twitter.com/vhyNKVbALV
— Dan Todaro (@DFTodaro) September 5, 2019
One welcome return: The 40th anniversary edition has an actual headphone jack, and it also works with Bluetooth headphones.
Another retro/future move: The device comes with a vinyl processor, which means tracks will sound like they’re being spun on a turntable.
Not so welcome? Availability in the U.S. As of now, the new Walkman will only be available in Europe and Australia for around $400-$500.
If you miss the tape part of your Walkman, the annual Cassette Store Day is coming up October 12th, promising a number of cassette-only and limited-edition releases.
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