In the mid to late 70s, running and jogging was all the rage. Everybody "went out for a run" as soon as they got home from work (the real crazies went out before work!) If you didn't run, or at least jog, you were sneered at. Not taking care of yourself. Something like how smokers are treated now (back then, even many of the runners smoked). You'd see people all along the sides of the roads, trotting along with very pained looks on their faces.
I'm not a runner or even jogger. Never have been. Imagine a short-legged Dolly Parton jogging, and you'll understand. Bruises the chin and all that. But I did walk. I used to walk two or more miles a day around our spread-out subdivision, at a good swinging clip, and ten miles along the Potomac River on a Saturday.
In 1978, I was starting Mid-Eastern dance, and learning to play the zills (finger cymbals). You don't dare practice sitting or standing in place, or you'll never get it together with your feet. Also, the sound made my toddler daughter cry and the dog howl. So I figured the best time to practice the zills was on my walks.
There are several patterns for each of the different rhythms, so I made a tape of my rhythms album, and took the portable tape recorder and my zills on my walks. (Daughter - for zill patterns, see http://www.middleeasterndance.homestead.com/ZillPatern.html)
In 1978, "portable" merely meant it had a handle or strap. Had nothing to do with size or weight. The smallest thing I could find to play my tapes was a player/recorder, about 9"x4"x2.5", quite heavy, with a shoulder strap. It thumped against my hips as I walked, especially if I tried any fancy "traveling" dance steps.
One day, as I picked it up to go out the door, it occurred to me that I never used the "record" feature - I recorded on the stereo in the living room. I wondered how much that contributed to the weight. Also, it had an ear plug, which I always used, so I never used the speakers. Then I really thought about it, and got excited. What I really needed was a tape player, alone, with just an ear plug. If you got rid of the speakers, and the recording circuits, and half the buttons, you'd end up with something very light, slightly larger than a cigarette pack, that would be much easier to walk with! There had to be something like that out there somewhere!
So I got on the phone. (Ex#2 should remember this....) I called every place in Washington DC and the suburbs that sold tape recorders. I called every department store. Nobody had anything even remotely like what I wanted. Several salesmen gave me phone numbers for their distributors. They had nothing, but several of them gave me manufacturers' numbers. I ended up having a long telephone conversation with the chief honcho for Sony US sales. He had nothing to offer me, and didn't see where such a simple thing would have much use anyway. I said no no, I don't want it to DO anything, I just want it to WALK with! Then he was interested. But still had nothing.
End of my half of the story. I eventually gave up carrying the recorder on my walks because the weight of it unbalanced me and was causing back problems.
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Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Sony Japan was undergoing a shakeup. According to some accounts, they had all new upper management, and were looking to reorganize and streamline, and the tape recorder division was on the chopping block. Their sales had been stagnant. They needed something new. Quoting from Chapter 17 of http://inventors.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.sony.co.jp/en/Fun/SH/ , the "official" Sony history:
"Ibuka (then Honorary Chairman) was a regular user of the TC-D5 [similar to the heavier recorder I'd complained about], and he would take one with a set of headphones on overseas trips, so that he could listen to music in stereo on the plane. However, he found it too heavy. One day, before going on a trip to the United States, he asked Ohga (then ExecutiveDeputy President) for a simple, playback-only stereo version of the Pressman, the small, monaural tape recorder that Sony had launched in 1977. Ohga immediately called Kozo Ohsone, general manager of the Tape Recorder Business Division."
This was in late 1978. What you wanna bet Ibuka-San had talked on the phone with the US head sales honcho before he left on the trip? What you wanna bet that the honcho had recounted the call he'd gotten about a new idea? I know, deep in my heart, that Ibuka-San got the idea through him, from me. I am certain! It's only natural. The connection is much too strong to be coincidence.
The Sony Walkman(ä)* went on sale in Japan in July of 1979, then in Europe, then eventually in the United States. By the time I saw my first Walkman, there was enough time difference (about 3 years) that I didn't make the connection between my telephone calls and the device. Mainly I just thought "Well, good. Finally!" It's only through the internet that I recently discovered the true timing.
Sony owes me a gazillion dollars. Any lawyers out there want to take the case? Hmmm. I didn't think so.
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*(The funny symbol may or may not come out. It's supposed to be the trademark symbol.)
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