Last Updated on: 7th September 2022, 01:21 pm
I have no idea what 1982 Sony was trying to create here. It seems a bit too sophisticated to have been intended as a toy, but nowhere near sophisticated enough to be taken seriously as any sort of musical instrument or recording device. It occupies a strange space somewhere in between, and therefore winds up accomplishing mostly nothing. But I suppose that might explain why it failed to make it out of Japan or the early 80s.
I’ll say this, though. I understand why they might have sold a few at first. Had I seen one of these at a store or a friend’s house back then I would have pestered the bejesus out of my folks until they bought me one. It has a microphone! You can sing along with the radio! You can make your own music on it! It’s a tape recorder! But after that initial excitement, I doubt it would have taken long to realize its very obvious limitations. Once that happens, the novelty wears off, word of mouth catches up to it and your future prospects are toast.
