One of the most famous mobile music players, the coveted Sony Walkman, celebrated its 40th birthday the past Monday, July 1. Debuting in 1979, the Walkman blazed the trail of mobile music, ridding neighborhoods of loud boomboxes and replacing them with personal players that could be listened to via earphones. It was truly revolutionary as to how people listened to their tunes.
Information initially gathered by CNN.
In the present day, you can find a Walkman at a thrift store or a garage sale for no more than chump change, but that was not always the case. For three decades, Sony’s music player reigned supreme, offering customers an affordable and convenient product that allowed them to listen to their favorite albums anywhere and everywhere. Sony even continued to stay on trend as cassettes transformed into CDs with the unveiling of the Walkman CD player in the mid 1980s.
Sony aimed to keep up with the times, however after Apple unveiled the original iPod to the world which ultimately changed the media landscape of the world. To do so, Sony also released several lines of mp3 players to try to stray fans away from the new music giant that was Apple, but was unable to. Sony may have stopped manufacturing the original cassette Walkmans in 2009, but its lasting impact on the culture of today’s society lives on.
What was your first music player? Let us know in the comments below!
