Sony Terminates Walkman

 Futuring and Innovation Unit 3 Individual Project

Tara Adkison

Colorado Technical University

Futuring and Innovation Unit 3 Individual Project

When a company or an industry does not do proper scenario-type planning and only relies on standard forecasting, it can significantly impact the planning support and the innovation for the change. This is a case study of the Sony Walkman. The forces that were involved and the impact that was made will be discussed. Sony made a mistake when using standard forecasting and not scenario-type planning (Anonymous, 2010). Because of this, the market share fell. Apple shares were in the lead. When working through scenario planning, everyone involved needs to know that the future is uncertain and impossible to know. Predictions can be made. Scenarios are not predictions. Scenarios are a way that the future may go. There are a number of driving forces that can make significant impacts on forces for a company happens through the use of brainstorming.

The main form of listening to music in the 1960s was on vinyl records. Cassette player technology did exist at this time, but it was not until 1979 that the portable cassette player took off. The Walkman was lightweight and had its first introduction to the Japanese market (Anonymous, 2010). It was used with lightweight headphones and cost around $150. The device was sold out in a matter of three months. From 2001 to 2009, Apple sold 160 million units for the iPod.

In the 1990s, digital music files and compact disks were developed. The quality of these made the cassette player's existence void. The first MP3 player was created in 1998 by Saehan Information Systems. Sony did adopt the technologies and created other versions of the Walkman but did not do what the Walkman did. iPod took over the market in 2001. Steve Jobs improved mp3 players with broadband download speeds and more extensive storage. Apple iPods became more successful by the integration of iTunes music management software (Anonymous, 2010). 

Scenario planning can create opportunities in the future for innovations through exploring uncertainties imagining alternative outcomes and can assist in leading to alternative futures. A scenario plan does account for the social impact of change because new technologies will be introduced into a society that can and will have a way that people see the world around them. It can create significant advances and propel technology even more forward.  

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References

 

Anonymous. (2010, 2010 Oct 25

2021-09-20). Sony Terminates Walkman. Informationweek - Online. https://coloradotech.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/sony-terminates-walkman/docview/759856958/se-2?accountid=144789

 

 

Futuring and Innovation Unit 2 Individual Project

 Futuring and Innovation Unit 2 Individual Project

Tara Adkison

Colorado Technical University

Futuring and Innovation Unit 2 Individual Project

Many inventions happen by accident. One of those inventions is the microwave oven. Everyone is familiar with microwave ovens. They are used for cooking and heating foods. It is a kitchen appliance that is almost in everyone’s home. Molecules of water and other substance collide together, which produces heat. Microwave oven technology heats the food put into it rapidly and uniformly. Not every other kind of heat can do this.

The microwave was an accidental invention. Microwave technology was not a new technology. It has other purposes. One person wanted to know how this technology could be used peacefully and what could be done. In 1934 there was technology for high-frequency electric fields that produced heating, but the frequency was much lower. British physicist Sir John Turton Randall and other coworkers of his British team between 1937 and 1940 (Tietz, 2021). The wavelengths of this were small in terms of wavelengths. Electromagnetic waves were developed, and so was radar. In September of 1940, magnetron was given to the government of the United States. This was an exchange for industrial and financial help during World War II (Mass Moments, 1970).

Magnetrons were then built by Raytheon that was given the contract by the government of the United States (Howe, 2005). Perry Spencer was one of the engineers that worked for Raytheon. He was from Howland, Maine, and he was self-taught. He was one of the experts that were leading radar tube design during the world at that time. In 1945, he noticed a chocolate bar melting in his pocket while working on a powered radar. This phenomenon was not new, but it was the first time someone paid attention to what was happening, and it intrigued him. He also then exposed popcorns to the powered radar. The result was that the popcorn popped. He also then attempted the experiment with an egg, and the result was that the egg exploded. After that, he attached a metal box enclosed to the high-density magnetic field and experimented on food. This experimentation was safe and controlled (Smithsonian Institution 2014).

On October 8, 1945, the microwave cooking oven was patented (APS, 2015). A Boston restaurant was one of the first that used a prototype for testing. The first time it was used for the public was for a vending machine in Grand Central Terminal that sold freshly cooked hot dogs for Speedy Weeny in January 1947. Raytheon developed it for the cost of $5,000. The product weighed almost 750 pounds and was almost 5 feet 11 inches tall. They named this device Radarange. The subsequent development happened in 1954. This was a smaller version, and it used only half of the power. The Litton Company then developed the microwave in a new conversion in the 1960s. It was wide shaped and short. It was no-load, meaning that there was nothing to absorb the microwaves, which made the product much safer. The market for the product then grew exponentially in the 1970s, and the cost of the product dramatically fell in price.

 

References

APS. (2015, October). October 8, 1945: First Patent for the microwave. American Physical Society. Retrieved from https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201510/physicshistory.cfm

Howe, H., Jr. (2005). PASSIVE COMPONENTS: A BRIEF HISTORY. Microwave Journal, 48(11), 22-34. https://coloradotech.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/trade-journals/passive-components-brief-history/docview/204989413/se-2?accountid=144789

Mass Moments. (1970). Percy Spencer, inventor of microwave oven, born. July 19, 1894 Percy Spencer, Inventor of Microwave Oven, Born. Retrieved from https://www.massmoments.org/moment-details/percy-spencer-inventor-of-microwave-oven-born.html

Smithsonian Institution. (2014, May 12). Percy Spencer: Microwave inventor. Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation. Retrieved from https://invention.si.edu/node/1145/p/431-percy-spencer-microwave-inventor

Tietz, T. (2021, March 23). John Randall and the cavity magnetron. SciHi Blog. Retrieved from http://scihi.org/john-randall-cavity-magnetron/