Sony Walkman

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Technology

Sony Walkman · Sony's founder Masaru Ibuka wanted to listen to music on long flights. Engineers in Tokyo built a small cassette player for the purpose, without a speaker and without a record button, with lightweight headphones. On 1 July 1979, the Walkman was in the shops in Japan. Within Sony, many had doubts: who wants a cassette player that cannot record? It became a worldwide success. Music became something personal, a soundtrack to your own walk or bus ride. The city became the backdrop to your music. Young people played their home-made cassettes on it, full of new wave, post-punk and synth-pop.

Listening

• 
  Once in a Lifetime · Talking Heads, 1980
• 
  A Forest · The Cure, 1980
• 
  Just Can't Get Enough · Depeche Mode, 1981

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Genre Map · Technology^NL Map
• Mixtape 7: The 1980s^NL Reader
• Magazine: De regisseur als dj^NL Magazine

See also

• Compact cassette
• Postpunk
• Synthpop