It was thirty years ago that a small portable cassette player took the world by storm. Sony introduced the first method of portable music. Today, this simple Walkman is outshined by iPods and other MP3 players. The first Sony products, though, were designed for the business person to record meetings or interviews.

Even the first Walkman’s were well designed machines. Many had AM/FM dials along with dual headphone jacks. Later models would feature things like auto reverse and play and record buttons. The first Walkman was the Sony Walkman TPS L2. It rolled out in 1979. The Wall Street Journal touted this music device as the “one of the hottest new status symbols around.” It sold for $200 in the U.S.