How Sony Solved the Discman’s Biggest Problem

From Skips to Hits

In the autumn of 1984, Sony unveiled the D-50 Portable Compact Disc Player. Envisioned by Kozo Ohsone, who had previously led the development of the iconic Walkman, he challenged his engineers to shrink a CD player to the size of four stacked CD cases. The first model was a feat of miniaturization. But for all its brilliance, the early Discman had a glaring flaw. A little shake could send the laser skittering across the disc, turning your favorite track into a stuttering mess. For a device billed as portable, this was a problem that demanded a solution. This is the story of how Sony conquered the skip, transforming the Discman from a fragile novelty into a rugged companion for music lovers everywhere.

The D-50 was a marvel for its time. Sony shrank the hulking CD players of living rooms into something you could slip into a backpack. Within 18 months of its release, the D-50 turned a profit, pushing competitors to lower prices and record labels to churn out more CDs. Yet, their Achilles…