☛ Erik Dalzen: “Sony TPS-L2 Walkman 1st Portable Cassette Player”, ink on paper, 7×8.5″, 2008 (© Erik Dalzen)

From The Wall Street Journal:

Earlier this year, Sony decided to halt domestic shipments of new tape Walkmans — the brand lives on with Sony’s current digital music players using flash memory. The company made no formal announcement, except to attach a brief statement on the Walkman’s home page saying “production finished.” Once the current inventory runs out, Sony says the cassette Walkman will disappear altogether in Japan although other tape players and recorders will remain.

Sony says it will continue to sell the product overseas especially in Asia and Middle East where tape Walkman demand is not “totally zero,” according to a company spokeswoman. Sony says production of the cassette Walkman is outsourced to a Chinese contract manufacturer, which means pulling the plug all together eventually will be fairly easy. The last new tape Walkman model came out in 2008 and a new one can be bought for about 4,000 yen ($49). (“Sony Says Sayonara to Tape Walkman in Japan” by Daisuke Wakabayashi, October 25th, 2010)

The above illustration is part of The Commodities series by American artist Erik Dalzen:

Commodities is a collaborative project between spirited bidders and myself. Art pieces are created based on specific marketable goods and cater to niche audiences of collectors and enthusiasts. The works are then exhibited on the auction website, eBay, under search terms that coincide with the vernacular from which each piece derives. (more)