MDR-3R

Sony resurrects 1979 Walkman cans with USB-C and foam squish

Sony dug up the blue and orange foam ear pads from 1979 and put them back on a wire. The original Walkman headphones are back, squish included, and this time they end in USB-C. That plug matters: it means your phone, laptop, or tablet can drive them without an adapter, which is a quiet little mercy the launch video probably skipped. The cans themselves look almost unchanged, which is the point. You want the foam, the colors, the memory of pressing play on a cassette that probably ate your mix tape. Sony knows that. It also knows a modern connection lets you actually use them. The nostalgia is real, but the USB-C keeps it from being a museum piece. If retro revivals interest you, New Balance's TL900 pulls the same trick with trail shoes.