Vigoda? Vigorous. Walkman? Dead.
There's a long-running joke on “Late Night with David Letterman" about actor Abe Vigoda. Letterman raises the question, "Is he still alive?" The routine plays out and Vigoda makes a cameo appearance, striding, very much alive, onto the set.
(There's even a website dedicated to the status of Vigoda's heartbeat:
http://www.abevigoda.com/
but I digress …)
The same can't be said about the Sony Walkman audiocassette player. The Japanese electronics giant that once led the music portability marketplace pulled the plug on the tape player this week. The Walkman was 31 years old. That’s young for a person, but ancient for a gadget.
I thought the compact tape player bit the dust years ago. I still have a Walkman, but haven't used it in at least 10 years and I'm not sure why I keep it around. I don’t know where to buy blank cassette tapes and I no longer have a cassette player in my home stereo system. With the Walkman gone, we can now put the audiocassette on the technological scrap heap next to eight-track and reel-to-reel tapes.
Whenever I read an obituary, I always look for a cause of death. For the tape-based Walkman, the cause of death was evolution. The cassette tape was replaced by the compact disc, which took tunes digital for the first time. (Yes, Sony still makes the Discman.) But in this MP3 age, that disc-based format may be fading. I think my old disc player is resting beneath my old Walkman on that closet shelf.
My big question for Sony is, "Why didn't you keep your mobile-music lead?" How did Apple create the iPod from nothing, when Sony already had a large user base walking around hooked into headphones and earbuds?
I don't recall seeing many (or any) Sony commercials or ads pushing a digital music player. But I am seeing ads for Sony televisions. Sony is staying alive by integrating Web apps and functions into the large-screen TV experience.
If you’re tuned into one of these sets, and have a Web connection (or a cable hook-up,) I’ll bet you can find an old episode of "Barney Miller" or a screening of "The Godfather," both of which feature appearances by Abe Vigoda.
Read an Associated Press story about the Walkman:
A Walkman obit: Remembering the portable player
http://yhoo.it/9a3lZC
