The famed brand Sony has already become an international trademark by 2016, with many of its products reaching extensively into every facet of society, and whether it concerns mobile devices, television, photography or entertainment media, Sony has been undoubtedly successful. For an industry titan such as this, do you know that Sony has already existed for 70 years?
Since Sony’s founding in 1946, seven decades have passed in the blink of an eye, it has even reached the fifty-year mark since its establishment in Taiwan. During this time, Sony produced a myriad of classic products, including the first coloured television, the first transistor radio, the first Walkman portable media player, the PlayStation that replaced Nintendo’s 2nd generation game console and the AIBO robotic pets that pioneered AI products, all of these are well-remembered classics that have a nostalgic place in customers’ hearts.
▲ “70” is the key symbol for this event.
▲ The entrance of this exhibit displayed various important events over the years, including the visit by Michael Jackson.
In order to celebrate its 70th anniversary, Sony specifically set up an exhibition in Huashan Creative Park, gathering up all its classic products in the exhibition area for visitors to appreciate. Older visitors can also re-experience some nostalgic memories of using some of these products back in the days, while younger visitors may come to understand through this exhibit, how Sony was able to cultivate their record by discovering the fantastic history of the company.
Pic: The origin of the name Sony
The company was originally called “Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo”, but as the country began to embrace the international market, a new name for the company was decided when considering internationalisation.
The thought back then was to create a name with a simple phonetic pronunciation that will allow it to be easily identified and pronounced in any country in the world.
The then founders Mr Ibuka Masaru and Mr Morita Akio took the Latin word “Sonus(sound)” and the English word “Sonny” or “Sonny-boy” and derived the name “Sonny”, its meaning being “a cute and playful child with strong relation to sound”.
However, the spelling “Sonny” resembles too much the Japanese term “sonn-ni” which means losing money, making it too negative. Therefore, one of the “n” was removed, and the Japanese styled English word “Sony” became the official name of the company.
▲Are you aware of the origin of the name Sony? You will, after this exhibition.
▲The evolution of Sony’s logo, can you tell the difference of the later versions?
The products displayed in the event hall are bound to elicit some reactions from visitors! There are likely some products there that you’ve used in the past yourself. Below I will introduce a few of the, especially iconic ones.
▲Look at this vintage scene below, does it remind you of the days where you played with your Nintendo on a CRT tv back in grandma’s house? The adverts and posters of the wall were all the most popular models back then!
▲This Sony doll might have even appeared in your childhood living room!
▲Back then, Sony was sponsored by Shinli, so it’s also called “Shinli brand”. I never understood then what relationship the name Sony has with Shinli, I only knew that this company makes good TVs.
▲A lot of electronic stores back then have garage doors like this!
▲This is the first full-colour television Sony came out with! Trinitron is Sony’s exclusive tv technology.
▲The above TR-55 is Japan’s first transistor radio, Sony greatly reduced the size of radios, making it a portable device.
▲Speaking of the Walkman, we’ve gotta give Sony the credit. The word Walkman was popularised by Sony’s TPS-L2 released in 1979, the direct connotation of the word being “listen while you walk”, it can be said to be a revolutionary product in the music industry.
▲ Sony’s MD can be said to be many young people’s dream product back in the days. The model seen above is the MZ-1 released in 1992, although the MD models didn’t end up becoming popular then, it has since then become a collector’s dream.
▲The TV5-303 mini television that came out in 1960 made televisions not just strictly a household applicant, but something you can take with you as you go.
▲The first tape recorder TC-10 released in 1966 by Sony, it must have accompanied many people through their early student life.
▲Sony remains popular among professionals in the video camera industry. The above CCD-V8 released in 1985 is the first 8mm video camera by Sony, it accomplished the goal of having high-quality visuals while being light in weight.
▲The first generation PlayStation counsel! Need I explain more? This grey-white thing is what dethroned Nintendo as the top industry player.
▲When mobile phones were first popularised, Sony released related products too. The shuttle knob of this phone is one of its key characteristics. (the above model is the CMD-J16)
▲Different from the J16 shown above, this flip phone is the Z18, it is also a classic model.
▲The portable cassette recorder is also one of the iconic music players back then! It does both voice recording and music recording and is also one of the essential equipment of young people in Walker’s paradise back then in Japan.
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