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If a child or Teen has the chance having a Walkman in your hands is very likely that you do not know what it is. This device to listen music It is now a part of history and only known by those over forty or by collectors who are fond of retro gadgets.

The origin of portable music

The Japanese company Sony launched the first Walkman in 1979 and its cost reached 150 dollars (it was a Article luxury within the reach of very few).

The idea for this device is said to have come from one of the company's founders, Masaru Ibuka. He thought of a device that would allow him to listen to music during his long trips from Japan to the United States.

With this new device it was possible to listen to music with absolute Liberty of movements, since the Walkman was portable and did not carry cables. The first model used stereo headphones and a cassette tape on which an hour of music was stored. The battery consisted of two simple cells.

Although magnetic tape cassettes had been around since 1965, the Walkman was a revolutionary invention, as it was a portable player capable of producing them, which did not need plugs to a device permanent.

In a short time it became a device highly valued by the youngest and a phenomenon cultural (For this reason the word walkman was incorporated into the Oxford English dictionary). Like all technologies, the Walkmans incorporated new advances and improvements: inclusion AM and FM radio, digital clock, water resistance and models with less weight and size. In this way, the new gadget allowed the cassette to replace the classic vinyl records.

After the walkman came a new device, the discman (the great advance of the discman was the incorporation of the Compact Disc or CD). Subsequently, the MP3 and the different iPods appeared.

Physical exercise combined with music is related to the appearance of the first Walkmans

In any street or park we can observe runners who practice the race walk while listening to your favorite music. This phenomenon has a historical precedent, since in the early 1980s those who practiced aerobics incorporated the use of the walkman to listen to music while doing the different training.

The record of recorded sounds has not stopped evolving

Music recordings began in the 19th century with the phonograph. In time a new device appeared, the gramophone.

Then came more: record players with vinyl records, compact cassette tapes, and digital systems. Each of them represented an authentic revolution technological.

Photo: Fotolia - Nejuras