Today was the 30th Anniversary for one of the most iconic name in the gadget world, Sony’s Walkman.

Sony, which first introduced the quirky, block looking device that played cassette tapes, changed the landscape of music and became an instant classic due to its cutting edge technology (at the time). The Walkman ruled the 70’s and 80’s leading into the 90’s. Until the the arrival of the iPod from Apple, Sony was the leader in music and music hardware.

Sony followed the success of the Walkman with the CD playing Discman, then the minidisc players, which were very successful. After the release of the iPod, digital mp3 players became the new standard and Sony fell behind. They have tried to come out with their own digital mp3 players with the Walkman name (nostalgia?) but have not been able to penetrate the market.

(via g4tv)