Who discovered Walkman?

Asked 12-Mar-2018
Updated 02-Jul-2023
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Things have changed since Nobutoshi Kihara sketched out designs for the revolutionary Walkman on a piece of paper. Despite a disastrous few years for the famous Japanese company, the ground-breaking Sony engineer says the electronics giant still has its spirit of innovation. A protege of Sony co-founders Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita, Kihara is the little-known face behind Japan's first magnetic tape recorders, portable tape recorders, music stereo systems, Betamax video and digital cameras. Kihara, who has slipped quietly into retirement after almost six decades at Sony, also played key roles in improving the company's televisions and mini video cameras. "We did not think about expanding for the sake of expansion. We just grew,'' he says. "Back in my day, we had to draw product designs on paper. I would close my eyes and imagine our products. Proud to have been a Sony employee and former student of Ibuka, Kihara says the company's rank-and-file engineers will keep pushing the technological boundaries. "I'm confident that our soul as engineers is being passed on to young people.

Who discovered Walkman?
Ironically, however, US computer maker Apple trumped Sony in the market for new digital portable music players with its phenomenally successful iPod. Sony has also lagged behind rivals such as Panasonic in super-thin televisions. Few would dispute that the original Walkman, which went on sale in 1979, changed the way people around the world listened to music. Sony's woes are seen by many observers as a sign that the modern company, a sprawling electronics, music and entertainment conglomerate, is losing the determined engineering spirit of Ibuka, its legendary co-founder.
Who discovered Walkman?
Kihara was born in 1926, and his career with Sony mirrored its rise from a small electronics workshop to an international conglomerate, as the modern Japan emerged from the ashes of war to become the world's second largest economy. He grew up tinkering with toys, building radio sets and model trains and aspired to become a mechanical engineer. After Japan's defeat in World War II, he built and sold radios and other electronics from parts to support his family and to pay for his university education.


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nice article.. - Anonymous User09-Oct-2018