[suncore]

Ok, I'm biased since I was a kid during the 80s but two things strike me: 1. I still love the design language of the Walkman with brushed colored metal. Why can't we have that today? 2. It strikes me that a lot more thought and engineering has gone into these products compared to today. Most things today are just cheap all over with pointless design without function.

[arketyp]

I was a bit too young, got into music around the time of mp3s, but the Walkman always looked insanely cool. It's one of those rare things that makes you sort of regret technological progress.

[BossingAround]

It's kind of funny that in one post, one wants "brushed colored metals" and then complains about the modern, pointless design without function.

I'm not sure what general line of products you're talking about, but devices like phones and tablets surely have orders of magnitude more "thought and engineering" in them. The fact that you don't like the tradeoffs they provide doesn't mean they weren't engineered and considered.

[arketyp]

I know what line of product he's talking about. He's talking about phones that look like seashells and luxury soaps, suited for handbags and walks with a French bulldog.

[yjftsjthsd-h]

And on the other hand, just because someone thought about a design doesn't make it good. (To the degree that one believes design can be good/bad and it's not all subjective)

[BossingAround]

I'll quote myself:

> The fact that you don't like the tradeoffs [the phone/tablet designs] provide doesn't mean they weren't engineered and considered.

[yjftsjthsd-h]

...yes? That is what I replied to; do you have something to add?

[thom]

My introduction into the Walkman was the WM-F5, one of the yellow sport models with rubber buttons. That was pretty iconic to me, and the other versions all looked pretty flimsy in comparison.

[JohnBooty]

I absolutely loved Sony's "Sports" models. I guess it was just a little extra peace of mind for me; it's not like I really abused my stuff. But it was nice to know (or at least think!) that it would take accidental abuse.

I wish more companies would do something like that: produce a "Sport" model of their regular things... take the regular model, make it a little more rugged, charge a little more.

I think a truly rugged iPhone or flagship Android device would sell in a major way. Clearly it's something a lot of people want: look at all the people that wrap their phones in big fugly rugged cases.

I've read rumors over the years (from Daring Fireball, etc) that Apple has been toying around with a rugged "Explorer" (surely a working title + reference to the Rolex Explorer) variation of the Apple Watch for quite a few years. I hope they pull the trigger, I hope it sells, and I hope it starts a bit of a trend.

Apple would be in a very unique position to pull something like this off with their Macbooks, too. Traditionally "rugged" laptops have made major performance compromises. After all, performance = heat = airflow requirements, so you can't have a sealed laptop with top of line performance, unless you stick some giant cooling fins on it or something. At least traditionally.

But Apple's M1 chips show that performance doesn't have to be compromised for a fully sealed design.

[subpixel]

Oh man I had that model and am still bothered that my sibling inherited it a decade later and managed to destroy it.

[hellbannedguy]

I was a kid in the 80's too, and it was the quality of the Walkman that caught my eye.

I knew it would be a while until I could afford one.

I still remember the first the first one I saw.