The Quiz: In the U.S., the Sony Walkman personal cassette player was originally marketed in 1979 under what name?
Listener
Eardrum
Soundabout
Voicematic
When Sony’s personal cassette player went on sale in 1979, it was sold under the names “Soundabout” in the United States, “Stowaway” in the United Kingdom, and “Freestyle” in Australia. The name Walkman, however, became so popular in Japan, it quickly spread overseas by word of mouth, to the extent that customers in other countries started asking for it by name. In 1980, Sony decided to change the name to “Walkman” worldwide. Sony stopped manufacturing Walkman cassette players in 2010, having sold more than 200 million units worldwide.
The correct answer to this quiz is Soundabout.