Sony has released a ‘Walkman’ to mark the 40th anniversary of its iconic portable cassette player.
But it’s missing one rather obvious missing feature: the ability to play tapes.
Just like vinyl, cassettes are experiencing something of a minor cultural renaissance, with musicians ranging from underground innovators to popstars as big as Taylor Swift releasing their songs on tape.
Even Tesco has cottoned onto this analogue resurgence and is currently selling a cassette deck for £15.
Sadly, Sony doesn’t want to introduce a whole new generation to the joys of its old-school Walkman.
While it still does manufacture and sell music gadgets capable of playing tapes, the new NW-A105 Walkman is a rather disappointing digital gadget.
It’s basically an iPod which looks like a retro Walkman and costs a whopping £400 – significantly more than the £199 you’ll pay for an Apple music-playing device.
Sony wrote: ‘Take a trip down memory lane with the 40th-anniversary edition, NW-A100TPS Walkman.
‘It has a printed 40th-anniversary logo on the rear panel and comes with a specially designed soft case and package, which pays homage to and is inspired by the TPS-L2 Walkman, Sony’s first portable cassette player.
‘Launched on 1st July 1979, it revolutionised the way that people listened to music on the go, giving them the freedom to enjoy their favourite music wherever they went.
‘Not everything was better back then, so you can enjoy the best of both worlds with the heritage design of Walkman whilst having cutting edge technology at your fingertips.
‘You can also enjoy a cassette tape user interface that takes inspiration from classic Walkman models.’
The new Walkman was released at the tech conference IFA and comes with 3.6-inch HD display, USB-C charging and a 26 hour battery life.
It also features controls which will remind older people of the interface of the retro device.