Sony Data Discman

Summary

Introduction Back in 1992 I worked at an Electronics Boutique that was an outlet location for the company. We sold regular merchandise but also had an outlet section for clearance stuff aggregated from other stores. This thoroughly confused customers who expected every item in the store to be discounted. The job involved a lot of explaining "no I'm sorry this game that literally launched today is not on clearance". Working retail is a great way to lose faith in the collective intelligence of our species. One day we received several Sony Data Discman Electronic Book Player DD-1EX players that we were supposed to clear out. The original sticker price was $500 but they were marked down to roughly 1% of that. Largely out of curiosity I picked one up along with whatever software we had for it (also at a massive discount). I can't say I've used it for more than an hour. It's a very nice device that serves no practical or entertainment function whatsoever. Using old catalogs as a reference, these were originally listed in the spring 1992 catalog. Here it is: These did not appear in the summer 1992 catalog just a couple months later. Since I started working there during the 1992 holiday season the timeline works out. They must have hit the shelves in early 1992, not sold, then been marked down every month until they were rounded-up and shipped to our location. Let's take a peek at it.. Gallery Disclaimer: I am terrible at taking pictures. Sony didn't nickel-and-dime consumers on accessories here. The package came with: the reader (duh), AC adapter, rechargeable battery, and another battery pack that holds AAs. Years later they refused to include an AC adapter in the PlayStation Classic. The reader itself is fairly nice looking. It feels like a miniature laptop. It's a tad on the heavy side but also feels extremely durable. Looking at all the buttons and size of the screen makes me think this had a lot of potential beyond just electronic books. However, it lacks any mechanis...