Why would anyone buy a Sony Walkman cassette player these days?
Asked by
2davidc8 (
10189
)
July 20th, 2016
So, I was checking Ebay and I saw that there were plenty of Sony Walkman portable cassette players offered for sale. I didn’t expect to see any, and if there were any, I was expecting prices in the $10 to $15 range. I was surprised to see some asking prices in the $50 to $125 range! There’s even one offered at $700! Are the sellers clueless or is the Walkman turning into a collector’s item? I can’t imagine why anyone would buy one these days, when you can simply download music to your smart phone, and you wouldn’t need to carry an extra piece of equipment.
I have a unit that has auto-reverse, graphic equalizer and TV/AM/FM reception, and I’m pretty sure I did not pay $125 for it even when new, back in the day.
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12 Answers
I bought a tape deck a few months ago, to listen to cassette audio books.
Also, call me old-fashioned, but I like to actually own the stuff I buy, not just license it from Apple or Amazon until they decide to take it back. That’s why I don’t rely entirely on digital music.
@Seek Yes, but you could also buy the digital music, and then you would own it.
Tell that to everyone who had a Zune.
In fact, Apple has even managed to steal people’s personal sound files and make them inaccessible and delete personal files at their own whim
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@Seek Couldn’t agree more. When you buy something it has to be there. You can’t rely on your computer and internet connection for everything.
I recently bought an old typewriter and two ancient film cameras. If I can ever find something like my Sony Walkman cd player again (grew up with one, can’t think of a happier way to listen to music, except records) I’ll buy a dozen just to be safe. Nostalgia matters a lot, there’s people (like me :D) who just don’t like all the new stuff. I believe it’s simple as that. It’s the same thing when someone prefers to stuff their suitcase with books than get an e-reader. New isn’t always sexy.
But .. but…
When I buy digital music from Amazon or iTunes, I can download it to a thumb drive or portable hard drive. How can Apple steal that?
Just last night I listened to Deep Purple’s album, Book of Taliesyn
That record was purchased by my father in law in 1968. It’s survived countless moves, a flood, and the Nixon administration.
No matter how many times I’ve had to hook up a new turntable, the music I play on it has never suffered.
If you really enjoy saving space, you go ahead and buy digital. Just be aware that hard drives gork out every day, and apple can decide at any time to stop letting you download your music to disc.
The original walkmans are big collectors items now
Nostalgia may have a lot to do with it. I still own one. It works but I never listen to it. Also I have working reel to reel tape player, 8-track tape player and a vinyl record player. Also a CD player. But I never listen to them either (hardly ever).
Cassette audio books too…...
I was looking for some headphones that played
the radio like the ones I bought from Radio Shack
about 20 years ago that I loved. No such thing :(
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