What’s New IN ELECTRONICS – Sony Walkman (Apr, 1980)
Of course the Sony Soundabout was later renamed the Sony Walkman.
What’s New IN ELECTRONICS
Hi-fi for joggers
You don’t have to jog when listening to stereo music from the Sony Soundabout cassette player—but you could. It’s small, lightweight, designed to go anywhere, and produces high-fidelity stereo through its specially built headphones. Price: $199.95.
Metal playerHere’s the usual top-of-the-line cassette deck—metal-tape capability, Dolby, LED level displays, autostop, DC motor drive, 40 Hz to 14 kHz response, and just 0.09 percent wow and flutter. What makes Sharp’s RT-10 unusual, however, is its bottom-of-the-line price: $129.95.
Smart player
A built-in microprocessor controls all the functions of Optonica’s RP-9705 turntable, allowing you to preprogram up to 10 selections in advance. A digital display shows speed or present program instruction. It costs $950.
Kit multimeter
Side buttons allow one-hand operation of this Heath 3-1/2 digit multimeter. Designed for field work, it has a built-in calibration system and runs for 200 hours on a single nine-volt battery. The IM-2215 kit, from Heath Co., Benton Harbor, Mich. 49022, is $94.95.
Pocket computer
Pop in a memory module and this hand-held information center from Quasar will do anything from translating languages to helping you choose a wine. The data is in the modules—nutrition and calorie guides, generic-drug tables, metric conversions, and more.
Special effects
Tap the remote control and the Quasar VH5155 six-hour VCR plays a tape the way you want it—pause, freeze frame, single-frame advance, or variable speed for slow motion. The recording channel can be changed remotely and the unit programmed up to two weeks in advance.
And in just 30 years everybody has music on the go.
The music devices, the pocket computer and the video play back have all been improved and merged with a phone and placed into one small unit.
And if you look around I have NO doubt there is a USB multimeter head that can be run from an app on an Android or iOs device…
Come to think of it, I need one of those… 🙂
Al