TimeOut

HSTE
[Omega Moderator]
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My first "TimeOut" post is a riddle: what is this? Try to answer before you click.

We are in 1979. The time where Genta's top designs Royal Oak, Nautilus and Ingenieur Jumbo are flying high. Elton John is the first western pop artist allowed to give concerts in the USSR. Pink Floyd releases the album "The Wall". And a technical innovation coming from Japan hits the market and disrupts the way people listen to music. This device is called in its very early days: "Freestyle", "Stowaway", "Soundabout". Or even more sexy: TPS-L2. At a later stage, Akio Morita gave in and agreed to start marketing this new device globally under a name that he hated: the "Walkman". The company was Sony, Akio Morita was president and co-founder of Sony. The rest is history.

I was fortunate enough to find a few years ago this time capsule but only took the time today to take some decent pictures of this historic piece. Oh, and did I tell you earlier - related to vintage watches - that I love "early production models", that I love "mint condition" and that I love "full sets". Now, here you are: this is the 14611'th ever produced Sony Walkman, from the time when the name and trademark "Walkman" did not exist yet, hence this was the Sony Soundabout. In almost mint condition. No battery leakage in the battery compartment, no heavy scratches, no dents, full set - that is - REALLY FULL SET. Works perfectly.

Cheers, HSTE 

PS: the orange "Hot Line" push-button activated a small built-in microphone, partially overriding the sound from the cassette, and allowing one user to talk to the other over the music