It's feasible to put dozens of hours of music inside a few grams dense headset today, but a few centuries ago the Sony Walkman appeared to be the revolution's maximum. And it was indeed revolutionary: the little media player in the cassette certainly altered the way you listened to music. It was the first genuinely mobile and personal tool: there were already mobile radios (or boomboxes) at the moment, but the Walkman made music listening "portable" on the one side, and more intimate and private on the other.
On 1 July 1979 was published the first Sony Walkman (TPS-L2). 40 years later, as it has been substituted by MP3 players and smartphones, it is no longer a prevalent form of item on the roads, but the flow of modifications it has introduced into the sector is still obvious today. Cassettes or CDs, particularly for portable listening, are not used as often today. In addition, not only can the smartphone contain a sufficient quantity of music even for the most demanding palates, but streaming facilities such as Spotify and Internet accessibility have provided the coup de grace virtually everywhere.
And yet, even the fresh techniques of listening are based on the Walkman launched revolution. The basic approach isn't that distinct: 40 years later we still carry the music around, and we listen to it with headphones and earphones without bothering those around us. The distinction is that while we often prefer to use generic equipment to listen to music today, the Walkman was a particular object intended with music in mind. In addition, to celebrate the Walkman's 40th anniversary, the Japanese firm has published a video in which it retraces 40 years of activities in just one minute.
The original Walkman was a simple product, aimed at those who wanted to listen to music and nothing else, according to the chronology of events published on the official Sony website. At the time, he was targeted because the user was unable to record the content, but he had two 3.5 mm audio jacks (the same connector used today) so that he could share the hearing with a friend. Over the years, several restyling and hardware modifications have been made to the Walkman: the tiny cassettes were then replaced by CDs with the Discman and MiniDisc players.
Sony has lost some power in the consumer electronics industry after 40 years, this is undeniable, but it still sells media players today (of course very different from the initial Walkman) and has an effect on the audio video industry. It's not the past's superpower, but after 40 years Walman's legacy continues to be felt and the revolution that led to listening to music is still noticeable and palpable in the manner we relate to music and technology. And alive more than ever.
