Os Modelos de Walkman Que Definiram Cada Época - Como a Sony reinterpretou a música portátil ao longo de quase cinco décadas - EP6

1998: WM-EX7 Walkman: The Smart Tape Illusion

With MiniDisc established, Sony tried to force that same digital logic backward onto cassette. The WM-EX7 included a Music Information Data Bank that allowed metadata to live separately from the tape itself. Track names followed the listener, not the cassette. In practice, it was administratively heavy and lightly adopted. The idea was ambitious, but the timing betrayed it. Sony no longer trusted tape to carry meaning on its own, yet it could not quite let it go. The cassette was being asked to behave like a file, and it resisted.

 

Walkman: A História Ilustrada (1979–2004) A timeline of Sony’s cassette Walkman models from 1979 to 2004 - EP.31 - 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998: SONY WALKMAN Beans

 

Between 1995 and 1998, Sony released the “Beans,” a line of translucent cassette players.

 They used iridescent or opalescent shells, with some versions designed to glow in the dark.

A História Ilustrada do Walkman da SONY - série Sports - ep.21 - 1998: WM-FS111

 

1999 WM-FS111: Endurance Over Innovation

The WM-FS111 put battery life and durability first. With up to 24 hours of playback, a gasket-sealed shell, AM/FM radio, and Mega Bass, it emphasized longevity over new ideas. Heavier and more rounded, it matched late-90s industrial design more than mechanical ambition. By this point, the category had stopped evolving.

A História Ilustrada do Walkman da SONY - série Sports - ep.20 - 1998: WM-FS473

 

1998 WM-FS473: Presets Over Performance

The WM-FS473 shifted the focus to radio convenience. A digital synthesizer tuner with deep preset memory and an LCD display pushed radio use to the foreground. The cassette mechanism was conventional, backed by auto-reverse and basic shock protection.