A Data Discman is an electronic book device introduced in 1992 by Sony Corporation.[1] It was marketed (in the United States) to college students and international travelers, but had little success outside of Japan.
The Data Discman's purpose was for a quick access to electronic reference information on a pre-recorded disc. Searching for information on disc were entered using a QWERTY-style keyboard and utilized the "Yes" and "No" keys.
A typical Data Discman model has a low resolution small grayscale LCD, CD drive unit, and a low-power computer. Early versions of the device were incapable of playing audio CDs. Software was prerecorded and usually feature encyclopedias, foreign language dictionaries, novels, and the like.
All Data Discmans had audio and video output capabilities.
A DD-10EX was included in an exhibition entitled The book and beyond: electronic publishing and the art of the book, held at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, from April to October 1995. The exhibition also included a CD-ROM designed to be played on the Data Discman, entitled The library of the future.[2]