Scarves, fancy sunglasses, flowery tops and a Starbucks attitude. Those, I think, are a few of the most obvious tells for your standard hipster. Maybe throw in a disposable film camera if you want to be a photography hipster, or a classic cassette Walkman with those flimsy headphones if you want to lean more towards being a music hipster.
But the thing is, sometimes, you don’t actually want to be a hipster. Personally, I’ve struggled this aspect within me as much as Kylo Ren struggles with the light and dark sides. On one hand, I really like the aesthetic of a lot of these cool hipster-y things, but on the other hand, I don’t actually want to listen to cassette tapes.
Well, there’s actually good news if you’re the type of person in my predicament. That’s because Sony‘s just put out a special package to celebrate the world’s first low-cost portable stereo cassette player: The TPS-L2 Walkman. Or, the OG Walkman, if you prefer.
This comes in conjunction with the 40th anniversary of that iconic blue-and-silver Walkman, and it comes in the form of the NW-A100TPS Walkman. As part of their A100 series, this special Walkman comes with a couple of unique touches that pay homage to the old Walkman. For starters, it comes with a 40th anniversary logo printed on the rear panel. Besides that, the NW-A100TPS Walkman also comes with a specially designed soft case and package that is inspired by Sony’s first portable cassette player.
Now, I am a little bummed that Sony didn’t just go all out and paint the player those iconic colours, but I guess the upside now is that if you want to go a little more incognito, you just need to remove the case. The cool thing about this setup is that the NW-A100TPS Walkman looks and works like a modern Walkman. It runs on Android 9 so you get access to your preferred streaming and music apps. It also has a screen, and a UI that makes sense, USB-C, microSD expansion, physical buttons for playback controls, and a 26 hour battery life.
But, when the mood hits you, and you feel the pull to the hipster side, just slap on the special soft case, launch the Walkman UI (basically a live wallpaper of a cassette tape playing), strap it to your belt, and the double-takes will begin. Or at least, that’s how I see it in my head.
Personally, I would have rather Sony relaunch the first-gen cassette player the way they did with the first PlayStation, bringing some modern touches but with old-school massive clicky buttons for that touch of nostalgia. Having just a case on and an interactive wallpaper doesn’t really do it for me.
However, if you’re interested in this limited edition Walkman, you’d better hurry. There will only be 100 units available in Malaysia. Sony are accepting pre-orders for the Walkman at all Sony Stores, the Sony Online Store, selected Sony Centres, Jaben Malaysia, and Stars Pickers until the 13th of December 2019. The Sony NW-A100TPS Walkman is priced at RM1,799.
