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.
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.
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.