Sony Walkman, R.I.P.

The Sony Walkman portable cassette player was born June 22 1979 in Tokyo, Japan. Walkman passed away October 25, 2010, being aged 31 years, 4 months, and 3 days when production ceased.

His death is due to complications produced by a proliferation of other portable music devices such as the Apple iPod. Ironically, observers believe Walkman's death was accelerated due to his own popularity.

He is survived by a descendant, the Discman, now living in Asia, and also over 220 million units representing more than 300 different models.

Though his life was brief, he made his mark in society, both in popular culture and the English language. The Oxford English Dictionary lists the term "Walkman" to describe any cassette player.

According to a family tradition, Walkman was born in order to allow Sony's chairman to listen to his opera collection on long plane flights.

At his birth, one of his parents, Akio Morita, stated, "This is the product that will satisfy those young people who want to listen to music all day. They'll take it everywhere with them, and they won't care about record functions. If we put a playback-only headphone stereo like this on the market, it'll be a hit."

Walkman's mourners recall sitting in the backseat on car trips, shutting out all distractions. One mourner, who wishes to remain anonymous, recalled jogging many long miles with Mr. Walkman firmly clipped on his waist and the thin wired foam earpads on his head. Another fan commented that her first memory of the Walkman was lying in bed at night and falling asleep with Huey Lewis and News' Fore! cassette playing Power of Love in her ears. Others recall Walkman's adolescence, when he gained auto-reverse and Dolby noise suppression.

He's BAAAACK

However, some reports insist that Walkman's death might be greatly exaggerated. Production is only ceasing in Japan, but the device will still be available in the U.S.

In other ironic news, the iPod, a distant cousin and among suspected killers, celebrated its ninth birthday on October 23 of this year.