Lab+1+Comparison+between+Sony+&+iPod

The Sony walkman revolutionized the meaning of the word portable, when Sony introduced the first commercially available TPS-L2 (Wikipedia, Walkman) personal tape player to the consumer market in the 19th century. The word “walkman” became a part of our language (Hormby,Tom). Sony Walkman changed the concept of how people listened to music and carved the path for future emerging digital technologies. To own a Walkman was to be a part of the new generation, hip, stylish and futuristic. When Sony Walkman was released it demonstrated a new age of technology and the first signs of compact, integrate, small devices consumers could purchase for entertainment. Like the Walkman, the iPod today is the new hip, futuristic and stylish product consumers want to listen to music. Both Walkman and iPod’s purpose was to create a different product that offered convenience and status for the owner. Another similarity Sony and Apple have in common was the ability to power-market the product with intense promotion and advertising despite negative reviews it wouldn’t be successful. For The Walkman was considered the smallest portable radio, in its time. The interface design implemented traditional physical functions (i.e.: hotline button that activated built-in microphone (Wikipedia, Walkman)) and had a bulky, metallic, industrial design. Apple iPod was able to design a product that didn’t have a traditional bulky manufacturing feel. This is how the iPod showed significant design advancement from the Walkman. The Walkman may have helped create the step forward to personal devices, however the iPod design changed the way personal devices should look, feel, and operate just as they did with the iMac G4 when it changed the way people perceive home desktops. The iPod design moved away from the metallic look the early walkmans had and tapped into new available material like plastic. The iPod uses twin-shooting material that co-moulds plastic to metal which gives apple the ability to design a sleek, elegant, flawless interface design. The end product was exactly what Jobs envisioned, no fasteners like the walkman, no battery doors like the Walkman (which time to time would get lost from the over usage) and no visible screws! Jobs stated he didn’t want to see any screws on the interface and with the twin-shooting he was able to make his vision into reality; and now it is what consumers want and expect from today’s futurist, hip and stylish personal entertainment. Also with new advance micro technologies the ability to redesign the once bulky personal entertainment, Apple used only the essential units and layered components one atop the next to create the new “smallest” personal device. Inside an iPod includes a lithium battery from Sony, 1.8 Toshiba drive, mp3 decoder from PortalPlayer, controller chip, power management, battery, memory, and top quality sound system integrated into a palm sized “walkman”. The way it was put together allowed the device to be small, this was revolutionary, the way the product was designed, no other electronic device had ever designed a product this way. Another interface design the iPod mastered compared to the Walkman was the graphical interface versus later-LED Walkmans. This technology allows iPod users to visually see what is playing and have visual control of music selection. In contrast the Walkman used large buttons for physical selection only and had no visual direction like the iPod offers (i.e.: users can organized or viewed by album name, song title and/or even artist). The results in having graphical interface made the iPod the easiest and consumer friendly music player. Customers could see the song selection, search from a library of songs, remove and add new songs as well as categorize music. Sony Walkman was a pioneer product for a portable physical product which was bulky and consisted of an actual audio cassette that user would have to insert. The iPod in contrast is the pioneer in visual interaction and the ability to store thousands of songs within a memory chip. Another large aspect between Sony Walkman and Apple’s iPod is the technology in sound quality. The iPod main goal was to leave no unused sound and the longevity of sound quality. Compared to the Walkman that uses tape and its magnetic stripe, over time the sound would begin to fade, while the iPod sound remains the same in that same time period. This is because iPod uses memory to store each song and the users have the ability and choice to download the best quality file on to the iPod. The walkman didn’t have the feature to download therefore the user had no choice but to hear the sound quality they got from the cassette they have in hand. From the readings Wolfson Hayes is impressed by how Apple is able to get the best sound by focusing on how the iPod is built. Apple optimizes sound quality by strategically putting the circuit board and components together to create high quality performance. Hayes also states “Apple hit a home run with intrinsic audio quality” Overall the main difference between Sony Walkman and iPod is ability to make the best use what technologies was available to them. Apple was able to use what was available off the shelve and optimize each component to make the best product and didn’t stop at the inside of the product. The innovation continued with the user interface design as well. The Walkman was able to put components together but kept the traditional bulky, manufactured design. Apple was able to leap from the bulky look and create a futuristic design that still the high-tech product consumer friendly. One similar aspect both devices share despite time and new technology is the access to sound. Both personal devices use headphones in order to listen to music when travelling. One advantage iPod has over walkman in that aspect is the ability to connect the device to docks where the user can now share their music. Biography: 1. Hormby, Tom ( September 15, 2006). The Story Behind the Sony Walkman. Low End Mac. Retrieved January 9th 2010 from http://lowendmac.com/orchard/06/sony-walkman-origin.html 2. Wikipedia. Walkman. Retrieved January 9th 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkman
 * Lab 1 Question: Compare and contrast a Sony Walkman with an Apple iPod, and describe the differences in their physical construction, interface design, technology and delivery of sound. Quick sketches are helpful for this analytical process. **