🎧 The Walkman Before the Walkman
The latest DankPods video showcases the Sony TC-D5, a 1978 predecessor to the Walkman. The TC-D5 is interesting in its own right (watch the video!), but what really got my attention was the brief mention of the Sony TC-50 from 1968.
The TC-50 flew on many of the Apollo missions. It was used to record mission logs in lieu of paperwork and played music to entertain the astronauts. I vividly remember the scenes in the Apollo 13 film showing this device happily playing music while spinning around in zero-gee, and later running out of battery power in a somber moment after the spacecraft was disabled and things were looking bleak.
The thing that struck me was the timeline. The Sony TC-50 was released in 1968, but the first Walkman (the TPS-L2) was released in 1979. Sony created what was effectively a Walkman—the TC-50—over a decade before the first actual Walkman was released. The only real technological advantage the TPS-L2 has is its stereo functionality (the TC-50 is mono only). In fact, the TC-50 is more capable overall as it can record audio, not just play it back.
Whenever I saw the TC-50, especially in the context of the Apollo missions, I just thought, "cool, a Walkman." The timeline simply didn't occur to me until now.
The TPS-L2 originally sold for $200, but I wasn't able to find the original retail price for the TC-50. I imagine it was wasn't affordable, but who knows? If you know please let me know and I'll update this post!
See also the cool personal audio timeline on Sony's site which includes all the devices mentioned above plus many more.