Portable audio player

The portable audio player emerged on July 1, 1979, when Sony's Walkman TPS-L2 went on sale in Japan for 33,000 yen (about $150)—a 14-ounce, blue-and-silver device that would transform how humanity related to music. Sony predicted sales of 5,000 units per month; they sold over 30,000 in the first two months. By the time Sony ended cassette Walkman production in 2010, approximately 220 million units had been sold.

The Walkman was born from a personal request. Sony co-founder Masaru Ibuka wanted to listen to music on long international flights without disturbing other passengers. In March 1979, the audio department modified the company's Pressman—a small portable recorder used by journalists—removing the recording mechanism and adding stereo playback. The modified device used the basic case and mechanical parts of the TCM-600 recorder, now including a stereo head but with the record key, erase protection lever, erase head, and tape counter removed.

The adjacent possible had opened through several converging factors. The compact cassette format, developed by Philips in 1963, had become a global standard for portable audio. Miniaturized electronics and efficient battery technology made portable playback practical. Perhaps most importantly, Sony had developed the lightweight MDR-3L2 headphones that made private listening comfortable for extended periods. Previous portable audio devices—transistor radios, portable record players—either weren't truly private or weren't truly portable. The Walkman was both.

The device included distinctive features that reflected its social origins. Two headphone jacks allowed two people to listen simultaneously. A 'hotline' button muted the music and activated an internal microphone, allowing conversation without removing headphones. These features assumed the Walkman would be used with companions—an assumption users quickly proved wrong by embracing solo listening.

Naming the device proved contentious. 'Soundabout' was used initially in the United States, 'Stowaway' in the UK. The Japanese name 'Walkman' eventually prevailed globally, becoming so synonymous with portable audio that 'walkman' entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 1986 as a generic term.

The cultural cascade from the Walkman reshaped urban life. The device gave rise to what sociologists called the 'Walkman effect': the ability to control one's sonic environment while moving through public space. Jogging and aerobics became associated with personal soundtracks. Commuting became private time. Critics worried about isolation and disconnection; users valued autonomy and personalization.

The Walkman pioneered the portable personal audio experience that the iPod (2001) would later digitize and the smartphone would absorb. Every pair of AirPods descends from Ibuka's desire to listen to opera on airplanes. In 2025, the original TPS-L2 was included in the Museum of Modern Art's exhibition 'Pirouette: Turning Points in Design' as one of history's most influential design objects.