A Surprisingly Wild Look at Sony: Odd Origins, Quirky Experiments & The Stories Behind the Iconic Brand

If you grew up in the late 20th century, chances are you crossed paths with Sony in one way or another. Maybe it was a Walkman tucked into your coat pocket, a PlayStation humming through a long weekend, or a camera capturing the unsteady magic of childhood. Even people who never owned a Sony device usually knew someone who did—with a quiet mix of curiosity and envy.

Sony has existed long enough to gather its own folklore: bold ideas, curious experiments, and a surprising number of stories that feel almost too strange to be true. Long before the brand became a global icon, founders Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita realized their small postwar workshop needed a name that could travel far beyond Tokyo. “Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo” didn’t exactly roll off the tongue worldwide, so in 1955 they adopted a new name: Sony—drawn from the Latin sonus (“sound”) and the word “sonny,” hinting at youth and energy.

That new name eventually spread across continents, carried by inventions that sometimes reshaped daily life and sometimes simply raised eyebrows. Here are some of Sony’s most surprising stories.

1. The Very First Sony Product Was an Unreliable Rice Cooker

In 1946, Sony’s earliest attempt at a consumer product wasn’t a radio or a camera—it was a wooden rice cooker powered by electrical coils. The rice itself was supposed to complete the circuit and regulate the heat, but batches came out either scorched or half-raw. The team abandoned the idea and salvaged the components by weaving the leftover wires into heating pads sold at street markets. It was humble, improvised, and nothing like the Sony we know today.

2. Sony Enlarged Shirt Pockets to Sell “Pocket Radios”

When Sony introduced its TR-63 radio in 1957, it was advertised as “pocket-sized”—even though it didn’t fit in an actual pocket. To preserve the marketing pitch, Sony had salesmen wear shirts with custom oversized pockets. The strategy worked, and the TR-63 helped Sony break into international markets.

3. Executives Disliked the Walkman—Until Teenagers Proved Them Wrong

The Walkman nearly didn’t happen. Sony executives doubted anyone wanted a portable cassette player without recording features. But Akio Morita had a hunch, inspired by teenagers hauling boomboxes around city streets. Overseas branches rejected the name “Walkman,” offering alternatives like “Soundabout” and “Stowaway,” but the original name stuck—and the device went on to revolutionize personal music for 31 years.

4. Sony Once Built a Toy Campervan That Played Vinyl Records

One of Sony’s stranger prototypes was the Chorocco—a miniature VW campervan that perched on top of vinyl records and “drove” in circles while playing music through a tiny speaker. It never made it to market but remains one of Sony’s most charming experiments.

5. In 1998, Sony Camcorders Accidentally Saw Through Clothes

Several Sony Handycam models shipped with an infrared “Night Vision” mode that, when combined with an external filter in daylight, could see through certain thin fabrics. Around 700,000 camcorders were sold before Sony issued a recall.

6. Sony Created a Cassette Tape That Could Store 185TB of Data

In 2014, Sony developed a next-generation magnetic tape using an advanced sputter deposition technique, allowing it to store a staggering 185 terabytes of data—roughly 64 million songs. While not meant for home use, it showcased just how far tape technology could be pushed.

7. A 1997 Sony Camera Saved Photos on Floppy Disks

Before SD cards, Sony released a digital camera that stored images on a 3.5-inch floppy disk. It was bulky and slow, but back then, inserting a disk straight into a computer felt like the future.

8. Sony Once (Accidentally) Sued Itself

Due to overlapping divisions, Sony Music—via the RIAA—ended up suing Launch.com, a platform owned by Sony’s tech division. In a twist of corporate irony, Sony effectively sued itself.

9. Sony Dropped 250,000 Bouncy Balls Down a San Francisco Street

For a 2005 commercial, Sony released a quarter-million colorful rubber balls down one of San Francisco’s steepest hills. The footage was stunning. The aftermath—broken windows and dented cars—less so.

10. Sony Built the Largest CRT Monitor Ever Made

The PVM-4300, created in 1989, remains the largest CRT Sony ever built. With a 43-inch diagonal and nearly 200 kilograms of weight, it was both a technological marvel and a logistical nightmare. Only one known unit survives today.