45 years ago, the way we listen to music changed forever. On July 1, 1979, Sony introduced the first Walkman, known as the TPS-L2. This portable device allowed music to accompany us at all times, setting the stage for the development of portable audio technology in the following decades. The Walkman, operating with a cassette, featured small buttons for music control.
As the Walkman gained worldwide fame, it paved the way for the Discman, launched in the mid-1980s. The Discman maintained the characteristics of its predecessor but offered a portable CD player with digital sound quality. Both devices coexisted for years, marking a shift towards high-quality audio in a compact form.
Following in their footsteps, MP3 players like the Apple iPod emerged in the early 2000s. These devices allowed users to store thousands of songs in a small, portable format. Today, Digital Audio Players (DAPs) represent
