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6 Minute English from bbclearningenglish .com Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.
I'm Neil. And I'm Georgina.
Hello Georgina, how are you today?
Georgina? Georgina?
Oh, sorry Neil, I didn't hear you.
I was listening to music on my headphones.
Ah, I see. Listening to music stored on your mobile phone or iPod when out on the move doesn't seem like a big deal now, but the concept of personal portable music didn't exist until 1979, when the Japanese electronics company Sony launched the Walkman.
Years before iPods and MP3 downloads, the Sony Walkman was the first widely available portable music player.
It revolutionised the way fans listened to their favourite bands.
In this programme we'll be taking a nostalgic look back at the 1980s and the birth of the Sony Walkman.
And of course, we'll be learning some new vocabulary as well.
Now, it may not seem so revolutionary to young people nowadays, but back in the late 1970s, portable music players were unheard of.
The idea behind the Walkman was simple – a high quality stereo cassette player small enough to hold in your hand, allowing you to walk down the street listening to your own sound track.
They became so popular that by the time production of the Walkman ended in 2010, Sony had sold over 220 million machines worldwide.
So my quiz question is this.
When the original Walkman model first went on sale in 1979, how much did it cost?
Was it... a.) $50, b.) $100 or c.) $150?
Things were a lot cheaper in 1979, Neil, so I'll say b.) $100.
OK, Georgina, we'll find out later if that's right!
Now, the inspiration behind the Walkman came from Sony chairman, Akio Morita.
He saw Japanese teenagers listening to heavy transistor radios carried on their shoulders, and had a vision of a smaller stereo which could be held in the hand.
However, few of Mr Morita's colleagues had faith in his idea for a portable music player.
Here's Andrea Coppin of Sony UK, speaking to the BBC in 1989, taken from the BBC World Service programme, Witness History.
People were very sceptical, they couldn't believe that people would want to walk around with headphones on and sort of carry this cassette with them.
And he actually laid his job on the line and said, if it doesn't take off, I will resign.
And they didn't have much money at the time, so their advertising was very tight.
And they decided to give it to students to try.
And so people saw them on the trains in campuses in Taz, and the newspapers picked up on it immediately.
The Walkman was designed to used with headphones – a pair of padded speakers worn over the ears, so you can listen to music without other people hearing.
Achim Morita was confident his stereo plus headphones idea would take off – suddenly start to be successful and popular.
In fact, he was so confident of success that he laid his job on the line – an idiom meaning to risk losing something important, such as your job or reputation.
Luckily, he didn't lose his job because many people started buying the new Walkmans – something the newspapers picked up on, noticed, or gave particular attention to.
Morita's idea was a massive success.
Released at the start of the summer holidays for Japanese students, within three months the entire first run of 30 ,000 Walkmans had sold out.
Meanwhile, music lovers outside of Japan were desperately trying to get hold of the new machines.
Among the first to buy one was music journalist Tim Jarman.
Here he is speaking to Farana Heider for BBC World Service's Witness History.
It was made available in the US in June 1980.
The Walkman was especially popular with a 16 to 24 age group.
They thought it could be a niche product that might not sell but really caught the public's imagination in every market that it was offered in.
When the Walkman was sold to the rest of the world and became popular with youngsters, because people thought it was a niche product – something marketed for sale to a small, specific group.
But instead, people of all ages began wearing Walkmans to listen to their favourite music on the move.
And the new invention caught the public imagination – an idiom meaning made the public interested in, or excited about, something.
Many put the Walkman's success down to its perfect combination of sound quality, small size, and affordable price.
But exactly how affordable, Georgina?
Remember my quiz question?
Yes, Neil, you asked how much the original Walkman cost when it came out in 1979.
What did you say? I thought it cost b, $100.
Well, Georgina, things were cheaper in 1979, but not that cheap.
The actual price was c, $150.
That's around $530 today!
In this programme we've been looking back at the iconic Sony Walkman – the first portable stereo made up of a cassette player plus headphones – pairs of padded speakers worn over the ears.
Sony chairman Aquino Morita was so confident his invention would take off, become popular and successful, that he laid his job on the line.
That means risked something important like his job.
His colleagues at Sony worried the Walkman was a niche product – product targeted for sale to a niche or small and specific market.
But luckily for him, the Japanese newspapers picked up on his idea, noticed it and gave it particular attention.
As a result, the Sony -Waltman caught the public imagination – made the public excited and interested in it.
That's all for this programme.
Until we meet again at 6 Minute English, happy listening!
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