It’s been a while since the launch of a Sony Walkman made headlines but its latest offering, the new x-series Walkman has reviewers somewhat excited. The new Walkman, despite its OLED screen, and despite its internet access, wifi and youtube, may be attempting to compete against Apple’s iPod touch, but its biggest strength is as a music player. It’s unclear if that is deliberate but it does present is an interesting point. As Apple moves it’s iPod line to be more of a multimedia handheld computing and gaming device, the market is opening up once again for a premium audio product that caters for those who want high quality audio in a portable device. Something, unfortunately Apple seems to no longer be interested in.
Before I go any further her, let me get one thing straight. Just because Apple makes the iPod, that doesn’t preclude anyone else from ever making a portable music player, and just because I’m an apple fan, it doesn’t mean I or you have to bash everything every other company makes. And just because I may say good things about a competitor doesn’t mean I’m bashing the iPod or Apple. If you can’t accept any of those simple concepts then please, don’t read any further, you won’t like it.
The timing couldn’t be better for Sony or someone else who wanted to try and fill this gap. Sony seems to have learned its lessons from the early days of the mp3 player market. Gone is the Sony only ATRAC format, and gone is the terrible Sonic Stage PC only software. The latest round of Walkmans from Sony are cross platform, drag and drop open standard players. They will work on a Mac or a PC and will even work with iTunes (with some help). But more importantly, now that the iTunes store is DRM free, customers can now buy from their favourite store (and lets face it, the only descent online music store that’s got a global reach) and not be limited to only using an iPod and thus one of the biggest hurdles for many to buying a Walkman has been removed.
Of course it would be foolish to think that DRM was the only reason people buy iPods. They buy them because they are good, and unfortunately the new X-Series walkman has some pretty serious failings. The user interface is, how shall I put this politely, terrible. (The on-screen buttons aren’t even anti-aliased for example). The whole thing looks cheap, and it’s a shame because it takes away from an otherwise capable player with very impressive sound quality. Sony’s problem, like many others is that it’s constantly trying to play catch-up to Apple. Instead the company should be focussing on its strengths. And Sony’s sound quality is hard to beat.
The thing is, Apple have struck upon something new with the iPod touch. In combination with the App store this represents a whole new class of device, and as Apple will undoubtedly move forward in that direction, it so far seems to be putting the emphasis on the computing, internet and gaming aspects of the iPod touch. The fact that it is a music player seems to be beside the point. Sure there is still the iPod nano, but that, while good is hardly a premium product and is limited by its storage capacity. Then there’s the iPod classic, but most Apple pundits agree that it will probably be the last in that line.
So while the iPod touch line moves off in a new direction, someone with the foresight to see that there is an opening there for a high quality music product, could sell it as such, and perhaps gain some market share. They wouldn’t be competing directly with the iPod touch, because for now, that’s in a category all to itself. Unfortunately the new X-Series Walkman isn’t there yet. The superb sound quality just doesn’t make up for the terrible interface. But that sound quality really is superb.
I confess to being something of an Audiophile, so perhaps I am a bit biased, but most people (who don’t have their Apple only blinkers on) will agree that the audio quality on Apple’s latest iPods, particularly the iPod touch and the iPhone are, well, less than great. Even compared to some of the older iPods, the audio quality is seriously lacking. And no, it’s not just the headphones either. I have several premium brand high quality headphones and the results are pretty much the same. On my 5th generation iPod the sound is noticeably better than on the iPhone, the iPod nano and the iPod touch.
Sony’s audio quality is a significant step up again, (and they ship their high end Walkmans with descent quality headphones what’s more.) If only they realised that if they focussed on that sound quality, and sell a product based on that rather than another me-too iPod. After all, that’s what the Walkman brand should be about. Quality. That’s what it used to stand for years ago. Back in the days of cassette player Walkmans, on their high end models, nothing could touch Sony for quality. The same was true with Diskman and early minidisk products. They were built like tanks and lasted for years. But more than that, the sound quality was always superb. I long for a product from Sony with that kind of quality again. Apple certainly make quality products, I don’t doubt that for a second, and I’m not trying to take away from Apple iPod line or their achievements in that space, but there was an intangible Sony-ness to the Sony Walkmans of old that I’d love to see again.
Despite the rampant Sony bashing that seems prevalent on the internet lately, I have always had a soft spot for the Japanese electronics giant. They have contributed more to the technological world in which we live than most other companies combined (and probably more than most people realise) and they have made some of the most innovative and beautiful products over the years. I would love to see the Walkman brand regain some of its former stature. I don’t think Apple has to fail or the iPod loose market share for that to happen either. In many ways these two companies are a lot alike and compliment each other on many levels. Sony have certainly made their mistakes in the past (although a lot fewer than the anti-Sony camp wants people to believe) but they have paid for them, and as the company deals with the global recession, if it returns to its core values of high end high quality products it could once again emerge in people’s consciousness as the industry leader it deserves to be.
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