We’re looking at the Sony Walkman this week, a device that made its debut in North American 35 years ago this summer. At first, the Walkman went by different names in different countries.
It was called the Stowaway in the UK. Sweden’s version was called the Freestyle. And the first Canadian and US models were marketed as the Soundabout. Eventually, though, the Japanese name—the Walkman—was rolled out across all territories.
Sony co-founder Akiro Morita HATED that name and demand that that they come up with something else. But since the marketing people had already started using the name “Walkman” in their advertising campaign and that it would cost a ton of money to change things, the name stuck.
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