News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Tech Is Fun Again: The Tech Monoculture Is Finally Breaking by testdelacc1 on Saturday January 24, 2026 @03:05AM (#46741889)
> 240g brick pantsing you

Sometimes I wish people from 1995 could read our threads and see the things we’re complaining about.

Re:Tech Is Fun Again: The Tech Monoculture Is Finally Breaking by Y-bar on Saturday January 24, 2026 @04:46AM (#46742260)
240 grams is twice as heavy as for example an average minidisc player (https://www.minidisc.wiki/equipment/sony/portable/mz-g750) which could often weigh less than 100g.

The very first cassette Walkman was about 40 grams light: https://www.soundandvision.com/content/flashback-1979-sony-s...

The Rio MP3 player was 109 grams: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/10/diamond-rio-pmp300-m...

The classic Creative Nomad weighs in at 45g including battery: https://www.crutchfield.com/S-HglCxgxN2we/p_053NX128/Creativ...

Re:Tech Is Fun Again: The Tech Monoculture Is Finally Breaking by tass on Saturday January 24, 2026 @05:00AM (#46742301)
Almost certainly a typo, the first Walkman was 390g or 14 ounces (not 1.4oz)
Re:Tech Is Fun Again: The Tech Monoculture Is Finally Breaking by Y-bar on Saturday January 24, 2026 @05:47AM (#46742502)
Yes, it seems you are correct. For example this one is 180g including batteries: https://www.1001hifi.info/2025/01/sony-wm-20-1983-worlds-sma...

Though I stand by my implied argument that older devices were not as heavy as we might remember them to be. And it is okay to consider 240g a bit too heavy in the context of a digital music player with no need for cassettes or mechanical parts.

Re:Tech Is Fun Again: The Tech Monoculture Is Finally Breaking by pmyteh on Saturday January 24, 2026 @06:15AM (#46742633)
I read the advert as claiming that the headphones for that Walkman are 1.4oz, which seems plausible (they're a very flimsy design).
Re:Tech Is Fun Again: The Tech Monoculture Is Finally Breaking by Aurornis on Saturday January 24, 2026 @11:04AM (#46744714)
> 240 grams is twice as heavy as for example an average minidisc player (https://www.minidisc.wiki/equipment/sony/portable/mz-g750) which could often weigh less than 100g.

The parent comment chose an unusually large DAP with a big screen to compare to. It’s not really a fair comparison.

Also the weights of old devices are usually listed without batteries, which could increase the overall weight by 50% or more.

I had a minidisc player a long time ago. It was a quality one, but it wasn’t the lightest or more robust thing to carry around.

Re:Tech Is Fun Again: The Tech Monoculture Is Finally Breaking by Y-bar on Saturday January 24, 2026 @02:49PM (#46746987)
You see that I used the weights including batteries for all but the minidisc player which is specced at 144g including those, right?
Re:Tech Is Fun Again: The Tech Monoculture Is Finally Breaking by raffraffraff on Saturday January 24, 2026 @07:21AM (#46742965)
Well, I had something like this back in the late 90s (can't recall the year exactly)

https://walkman.land/aiwa/hs-px297

    Battery: 1AA gets 30h
    Dimensions: 111.4 x 29.1 x 80.7 mm
    Weight: 132g
Ok, so you were limited to 90 minute tapes with slow seek. But aside from that compare it to the specs I posted for the android vs non-android mp3 players. Remember, this cassette player has some seriously impressive clockwork inside that case and it's still smaller and much lighter than the android.

Also remember you can just buy another AA battery, and keep a few spares in your bag.

Re:Tech Is Fun Again: The Tech Monoculture Is Finally Breaking by BobaFloutist on Saturday January 24, 2026 @12:37PM (#46745645)
Ok, and each AA battery you keep in your bag adds another 23 grams, so "a few" (let's say 3) and you're already right back up to 192 grams
Re:Tech Is Fun Again: The Tech Monoculture Is Finally Breaking by raffraffraff on Saturday January 24, 2026 @03:59PM (#46747606)
If you're going running with your Walkman I think 30 hours on a single AA would be fine
Re:Tech Is Fun Again: The Tech Monoculture Is Finally Breaking by raydev on Saturday January 24, 2026 @11:47AM (#46745089)
We live in 2026 now, with expectations that are matched to the current year.