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If you frequent the site you’ll know that I try not to reference the past when it comes to design. I try to look forward with the things I write about, not particularly concern myself with things from the past. But when I came across this radio by Sony called the TR-1825, I couldn’t help but be smitten with it. Back at the beginning of March Kyle posted about the Jambox, a tiny bluetooth enabled speaker that I couldn’t help but think of when I saw the TR-1825.

In my opinion the design of this tiny radio is timeless. If you updated the materials and the colorways Sony would have a product that could rival the Jambox. Small, portable and attractive, this tiny speaker would be amazing to throw in a backpack and bring to the beach. There’s something so appealing about the simplicity of a product like this. You slide it open, you get a speaker and two simple controls, that’s it. I think it would be extremely smart of Sony to reintroduce this product to the market with functionality like that of the Jambox. They could not only bring back a classic design but make themselves relevant in the stereo business again.

Here’s a quote about the radio from the Sony site:

Released in 1970, when Sony had become the first Japanese company to list shares on the New York Stock Exchange. Sliding the faces on this cubic radio reveals a speaker in front and controls on top, a unique design at the time. One version of its packaging commemorates the World Expo in Osaka, held in March that year, and many expo-goers picked up the radio as a gift.

Bobby