The original Walkman cassette player was released in 1979. The name "Walkman" was used in Japan, while abroad it had other names, one of which was "Soundabout". First the product did not have a name, and then one of the company's staff proposed "Walkman". Because it was a direct translation from Japanese, Sony's leadership seemed skeptical. They thought "Walkman" was not a suitable name for a device which was to be launched in the United States and Europe.