The first portable music player was a cassette tape player, made by Sony, and debuted in 1979
(Richter, 2022). The Walkman was both loved and hated. Most people loved the idea of being able
to take their music wherever they went. While others saw the Walkman as a “potent symbol of an
antisocial electronic future” (Richter, 2022). Throughout the years we have seen portable music
players change and morph into some great technological ideas. In 1984 the Discman was
introduced, then came the MP3 player in 1998. The first cell phone with an MP3 player showed
up in 2000, while Apple’s fist iPod debuted in 2001. This was followed by the Smartphone in
2007, and finally wireless earbuds, the Airpods, in 2016 (Richter, 2022). Nearly 45 years later and
we are still able to take our music and now podcasts and audiobooks with us wherever we go.
I chose to start with the Walkman because it had my favorite feature of portable music –
headphones. There were small and large radios, prior to 1979, that could be listened to by plugging
in to an outlet or using batteries. They were usually bulky and did not have an audio jack for
headphones.
Looking through the history lens of pop culture allows us to understand how things have changed
and grown over the course of time. Each new advancement in technology opens the door for
something better.
I am still trying to figure out how analyzing he relationship between history, culture, and pop
culture has an influence on my major or my profession.
Reference
Richter, F. (2022, May 11). The history of portable music. Statista.
https://statista.com/chart/18555/portable-music-milestones/
