What is Sony's most iconic product? Walkman or PlayStation

More iconic sony product

  • Total voters
    398
BennyBlanco said:
Walkman was a trend for a little while and PlayStation is a huge brand that has been around decades at this point. Both cool products but PS wins by blowout.
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20+ years is a little while?


I think people forget that the Walkman was first introduced in like 1980?

Walkman became the generic term for any portable cassette or disc player.
Hell Walkman is in the Dictionary.
I mean theres a condition called The Walkman Effect.....and the term is still used to this day even when talking about Phones or MP3 players.

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RetroGamingUK said:
Still got my Minidisc Walkman from 1999, don't use it but I'm far too nostalgic to ever part with it.

Lovely machine back in the day but Sony were really late to the MP3 market

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MD was really quite nice. Early versions of ATRAC not so much, but with later iterations it was completely passable, arguably better than the average bitrates of MP3s at the time. It wasn't a flop - it may never have been so popular in the US, but US != the world.
 
Hrk69 said:
PlayStation without a doubt

Almost everyone knows what a PlayStation is.
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Walkman is the generic term for all portable music players.
Playstation is not the generic term for a videogame console.
 
Mattyp said:
Walkman peak > PlayStation. Most people who don't agree probably aren't over 30-35+ but and didn't live through the period.
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I'm 54. Sony was known for electronics in general during the Walkman period, but no one product, not even Walkman, became synonymous with Sony like PlayStation has. That's my perspective on it anyway.

Moonjt9 said:
People not saying the Walkman are too young to understand the poll tbh.
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It's just a difference of opinion my man
 
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Topher said:
I'm 54. Sony was known for electronics in general during the Walkman period, but no one product, not even Walkman, became synonymous with Sony like PlayStation has. That's my perspective on it anyway.



It's just a difference of opinion my man
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Agreed, Sony was insanely massive back then 'the best out of Japan' a country 'decades in he future' mindset. There's a reason why all my vintage tvs and electronics in general are Sony, the Walkman but that moment of finally being able to bring music with you was just something else even for normal people music range is a lot larger than gaming with the general populace.

To me the original PS1 and PS2 had more hype and mindshare than anything of recent. Probably the effect of everything not being as magical and forwards jumping in mind blowingness but.
 
Mattyp said:
Agreed, Sony was insanely massive back then 'the best out of Japan' a country 'decades in he future' mindset. There's a reason why all my vintage tvs and electronics in general are Sony, the Walkman but that moment of finally being able to bring music with you was just something else even for normal people music range is a lot larger than gaming with the general populace.

To me the original PS1 and PS2 had more hype and mindshare than anything of recent. Probably the effect of everything not being as magical and forwards jumping in mind blowingness but.
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Yeah.....I'm with you. Not trying to downplay the impact of Walkman. I know I loved mine back in the day. I think FunkMiller FunkMiller has the best take. A changing of the guard, so to speak, that came with the new millennium.
 
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Black_Stride said:
I think people forget that the Walkman was first introduced in like 1980?
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1979 in Japan, 1980 onwards in the States and other regions.

Fun fact, it was due to the CEO of Sony at the time. He liked classical music. He used to listed to it during flights, using a bulky professional cassette player/recorder. He wanted something more compact. People didn't believe this would ever become a thing, but it's Japan, you don't question the CEO. So what Sony did was to use a previous dictation machine (featured during the Apollo missions), swap out the mono recording head for a stereo playback head, include earmuffs, and boom, you have a Walkman.

Turns out, people really liked it. The Walkman II is more what people recognize as a Walkman. But the first version, it was just a reworking of an existing product to please the CEO.
 
The fact that people even remember Walkman to compare it to Playstation should tell you something. It's a product that everyone wanted and the brand defined the item like a Nintendo or a Kleenex.

If you asked what is the more iconic product, NES or Switch. It does not matter that Switch sold way more units or the NES is old. We know the answer.
 
Poll results are due to recency bias.

I don't think people voting playstation understand how big Walkman was at its peak.
 
If the Walkman was so popular, where is the Walkman 2? (it's called the discman, I know)

Just by sheer numbers and longevity, I would say playstation without a doubt. If I recall both the walkman and discman were not cheap, and "quickly" superceded by mp3 players
 
Represent. said:
sure right now its playstation, but when you compare Peak vs Peak.. its not even close, walkman wins in a landslide.

which is why i still gotta give it to the walkman

Everyone called any cassette tape/mp3 player ever a walkman, until the iPod came out (apple can thank the walkman for that) ... where as my parents for example, have never called PlayStation by real name, it was always "go play the Nintendo"

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220 million cassette-type Walkmen were sold by the end of production in 2010; including digital Walkman devices such as DAT, MiniDisc, CD (originally Discman then renamed the CD Walkman) and memory-type media players, it has sold approximately 400 million at this time.


PlayStation consoles have sold over 600 million units and sales are still going strong.
No one under 30 remembers what a Walkman is.
 
We called every music player a Walkman back then. I didn't know it was coined by Sony, even.

But Playstation goes on for 30 years, and has been succesful for for the better part of these years. The term Playstation is also quite iconic when speaking about console gaming.
 
From my limited knowledge Walkman was probably more revolutionary for its time.

We had big console players already, Nintendo/SEGA. PlayStation just superseded them.
 
While Playstation has been good fun I would definitely say Walkman. Not everyone plays games but nearly every damn human on earth had a Walkman at the time they were popular.
 
Walkman/discman were huge! Led to an expansion of many different products by Sony.

I would be curious how much money Sony made off of Bluray as well!
 
Clearly the Walkman because it was a device with much broader appeal (if you count the copy cat products the popped up along with it). The early models were revolutionary at the time, where PS was more of doing something that had been done before.

I can see PS winning the poll on this board though.
 
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Probably Walkman. It became synonymous with tape/CD portable players, to the point everyone referred to every device as a Walkman - even when not Sony. Has PlayStation ever had that? No.
 
Playstation and it's not even a contest.
It had if not more of explosion in the 90's and 2000's
Walkman Vs anything else is a different story.
But Playstation was their next big thing that eclipsed it.
Everyone who thinks Walkman was bigger obviously doesn't remember what it was like when the PSX launched.
MadchesterManc said:
Probably Walkman. It became synonymous with tape/CD portable players, to the point everyone referred to every device as a Walkman - even when not Sony. Has PlayStation ever had that? No.
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Yes, the amount of times I've said " That ain't no Playstation"
 
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Walkman created an entire category of product in the form of a portable music player, the legacy of which we saw evolve into portable cd players, and then mp3 players, and then a feature of todays phones. The Playstation is iconic for sure, but I wouldn't put it at the same level since video game systems were already a thing and Sony was just a new player in that space. I get that this is a gaming forum and all, but I feel like the Walkman is the clear choice here from an innovation standpoint.
 
To me, something iconic is an item that stands out far above the rest and remains virtually uncontested. You can recognize it just from its silhouette. The Walkman wasn't surpassed until the iPod came along. The PlayStation couldn't even compare to the Nintendo; in the '90s, parents would refer to every console as a "Nintendo."
 
The Walkman. It was such a revolutionary device.the first of its kind. And for many of us born in the 80s it was the gateway to starting our own album collections ( I have tonnes of cassettes…. And vynil and CDs for that matter…. The only type of physical media I care about these days is music Formats)


The PlayStation was amazing when it first launched but we already had consoles.


The Walkman is an device that reminds of an era when Sony was an innovative electronics company. Lost count of how many Sony audio and visual products I've owned since a child. TVs, VCRs, hifi seperates…. Shit…. My first car stereo was a Sony before I became an alpine fanboy ( sorry but nothing beats them alpine R series amps and them alpine head units) my last CRT I ever owned was Sony. And it was my first Walkman that made me a fan of the company's products. I own a Sony C800 mic and it's considered as epic- level recording gear, in my line of work. It was a gateway product too, then. Not just into music, but also into Sonys product lines.


If it wasn't for the success of the Walkman Sony would never have been in a position to fund and develop the PlayStation.


Man this makes me miss the Sony of the 80s/90s….. now they are just….. the PlayStation company but still make great TVs and decanter car audio.
 
Yoboman said:
Whats Apples most iconic product?

Apple Newton or iPhone
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One upon a time I would have said the mac but nowadays I'd say it's a toss up between the iPod and the iPhone.


The iPod killed the Walkman, CDs and and put the final nail in the coffin of vynil alms musical physical media sales in one fell swoop. The iPhone….. well…. We all know that story. I'll deffo go with the iPhone as their most iconic device though. The iPod their most revolutionary…. It literally made them the owners of the largest digital record store almost overnight and the rest followed. The music industry had to adapt…. I still remember the talk in the offices( I was working with Columbia records at the time, which is owned by Sony) the iPod and the iTunes app had the whole music shutting its pants. Because we knew the days of selling 15 bucks albums were over. It was all about single sales after that. I've never experienced a device that was so disruptive to an industry, in any industry. So my nod goes to the iPod.
 
Kiya's Guard said:
If the Walkman was so popular, where is the Walkman 2? (it's called the discman, I know)

Just by sheer numbers and longevity, I would say playstation without a doubt. If I recall both the walkman and discman were not cheap, and "quickly" superceded by mp3 players
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Nintendo NES was superseded quickly by Super Nintendo and Genesis. Proof that NES was not iconic?

Walkman started in 1979 and MP3 players didn't appear for 20 years. But even if it only took one year, you only need a flashbang of popularity and cultural significance to be iconic.
 
TGO said:
Playstation and it's not even a contest.
It had if not more of explosion in the 90's and 2000's
Walkman Vs anything else is a different story.
But Playstation was their next big thing that eclipsed it.
Everyone who thinks Walkman was bigger obviously doesn't remember what it was like when the PSX launched.

Yes, the amount of times I've said " That ain't no Playstation"
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I remember when the PSX launched.......I also remember literally everyone having a Walkman, even if it was made by Panasonic because no one even knows what to call the actually device, the brand became the thing.
The Playstation isnt synonymous with videogame console.
Walkman is literally synonymous with [what do you call that device?]
 
Represent. said:
I just had this debate in real life, my stupid friend says PlayStation. I say most definitely the walkman.

discuss
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Your friend is right. The Playstation has been going strong for almost 30 years!!!! The walkman had a strong 10 year run.
 
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Its tricky cuz they were 2 peak products in diferent times. Sony sold more than 400 Million Walkmans, but already sold more than 500 million Playstations. Walkman was a Sony inovation that other brands followed, while Playstation was just Sony entering the videogame market where Sega and Nintendo dominated. Nowadays Playstation is a more iconic brand, but back in the cassete player days, the Walkman had a better brand recognition and cultural impact.
 
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I would have to say the Playstation, i remember the Walkman from the 80's i didn't actually own one, i had Toshiba and Hitachi ones, although everyone called them Walkmans at the time, but the name Playstation is bigger and more well known and has been for 30 years now, where as Apple and Samsung etc took over and went ahead of the Walkman.
 
Aenima said:
Its tricky cuz they were 2 peak products in diferent times. Sony sold more than 400 Million Walkmans, but already sold more than 500 million Playstations.
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Like @ Black_Stride Black_Stride mentioned being first to the party and inventing the brand that is synonymous with the invention itself is huge. There may have only been 400m Walkman devices officially, but how many Magnavox or Panasonic devices etc. got added to that? You've got to think that the % of kids and teens that had these portable music devices in the 80s far exceeded the reach of all the console brands put together.
 
Pre mp3 walkman/discman for sure. In the year of our lord, 2024, it is beyond a doubt PlayStation.

Why because half the population (younger folks, gen z and gen a) don't even know what a walkman is. They know what a PlayStation is though.
Walkman was going out of favor even in the 2000s. Before Smartphones and before ipod touch, I got a walkman candybar phone sony erikson w810. I loved that phone, but no one heard of it.
Luckily i was able to snag one, it was great fm radio, and large built in mp3 support. After that erikson died and Sony stopped making phones or walkmen.

Now if we go back to the 80s and 90s, walkman was the shit. Also Discman. I remember having many of them in the 80s and off brands too. JVC, memorex, fuji, Sharp, RCA, Realistic, etc... Then I remember the waterproof yellow sports walkman circa 1988. Good times.

PlayStation though has almost 30 years of awesomeness. Granted this gen has been lackluster in some ways and my love for PS has faltered with the appointment of jim ryan, herman hulst, and the woke brigade. I thought Playstation peaked in the early ps4, but was most awesome in the PS1 generation and mid-late ps3 generation, when they catered to a gamer audience instead of the resetera woke mob and feminists.
Even so , PS is still strong as a brand, just I see Nintendo taking that crown back. I know they have taken my attention, just by making a portable console and supporting the RPG genre that Sony had on lock but let it go for the girl boss, cinematic and gaas genres. What they did to days gone is all I needed to know they are part of the problem.
 
Tanus777 said:
Everyone used a walkman. It didn´t matter your age or your sex. That doesn´t happen with consoles.
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Black_Stride said:
Walkman is the generic term for all portable music players.
Playstation is not the generic term for a videogame console.
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These two answers are why it will always be the Walkman for me.

PlayStation is not the automatic name for console gaming

And peak vs peak, it's not even close
 
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Moonjt9 said:
People not saying the Walkman are too young to understand the poll tbh.
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Eh, I am almost 46, I had many a walkman. Yeah it was a phenomenon, but times have changed. People don't even listen to music albums anymore. Gen Z and millennials dropped the ball and don't create music anymore either its all shit (tell me it isn't compared to boomer/Gen X music, sorry your Minage, CardiB, Drake, Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran are nothing compared to the Beatles, Sabbath, Elvis, Led Zep, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Maiden, Hall and Oates, Dire Straits, Billy Idol, Bowie, Billy Joel, Police, Nirvana, Cyndi lauper, Heart, Alice in Chains, Jane's Addiction, Public Enemy, Digital Undergrd, NWA, DMX, Wu-tang, CCR, etc....... I could go on and on and on with that list but not for this post. )

Walkman isn't even known by gen Z. Everyone knows what playstation is, old and young alike.
 
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One of my early memories was getting this when my dad came back from his business trip in Japan.
He came back with 5 of them for all 5 kids. Before anything like this was available in the US.

f3rgOHT.jpeg
 
Black_Stride said:
Walkman is the generic term for all portable music players.
Playstation is not the generic term for a videogame console.
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I must say that in Italy, it sort of is. Sure, it is the wrong term ( but so it is Walkman) but is definitely used from the people as a de facto synonimus of console...
 
Shadowstar39 said:
Eh, I am almost 46, I had many a walkman. Yeah it was a phenomenon, but times have changed. People don't even listen to music albums anymore. Gen Z and millennials dropped the ball and don't create music anymore either its all shit (tell me it isn't compared to boomer/Gen X music, sorry your Minage, CardiB, Drake, Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran are nothing compared to the Beatles, Sabbath, Elvis, Led Zep, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Maiden, Hall and Oates, Dire Straits, Billy Idol, Bowie, Billy Joel, Police, Nirvana, Cyndi lauper, Heart, Alice in Chains, Jane's Addiction, Public Enemy, Digital Undergrd, NWA, DMX, Wu-tang, CCR, etc....... I could go on and on and on with that list but not for this post. )

Walkman isn't even known by gen Z. Everyone knows what playstation is, old and young alike.
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There's so much good music being made today, you've just gotta find it because you're not going to be fed it. This mentality is why so many old heads also hate modern games. A lot of us get set in our ways and instead of changing with the times we get mad when the times change around us.
 
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