45 years ago, the Walkman changed how we listen to music

In 1979, Sony premiered the Walkman to limited fanfare. Now, the entire music tech market has formed around it.

Back in 1979, Sony cofounder Masaru Ibuka was looking for a way to listen to classical music on long-haul flights. In response, his company’s engineers dreamed up the Walkman, ordering 30,000 units for an initial production run. Forty-five years later, Sony has sold over 400 million Walkmans and incited a revolution in music technology.