It was this idea that gave birth to the first Sony player.

The popular Sony player, considered one of the most iconic objects of popular culture of the 20th century, was released on July 1, 1979, which makes it 45 years old.

This is the TPS-L2, which sold over 50 million units in its first 10 years of existence and marked a real revolution in the way music was played.

In essence, Sony’s historic first Walkman allowed people to take their music with them wherever they went, and that represented a real change.

The idea that changed everything

Masura Ibuka, one of Sony’s presidents, had a habit of listening to classical music while traveling. The problem was that the executive had to carry his TC-D5 cassette recorder with him everywhere, no matter how big and heavy it was.

Ibuka then tasked the company’s development team with coming up with a more practical device for playing music. The answer came from Akio Morita, another president:

“Try it, don’t you think a stereo cassette player that you can listen to music on while you walk would be a good idea?”

At first, it was a device designed only to satisfy Ibuki’s needs, but the development team was so pleased with the result that they decided to launch it to the mass market.

The target audience was those “young people who want to listen to music all day long.”

So, in early July 1979, the TPS-L2 went on sale for $150. It was a metallic, blue-gray stereo cassette player that could be plugged into headphones.

It ran on two AA batteries and the best thing about it at the time was that it fit in your pocket.

On its website, Sony explains that many at the company thought the first Walkman would fail because it only allowed music playback, not recording.

They were wrong. The company sold more than 50,000 units in the first two months, and their use also changed the way we exercise. After the first Sony player, for example, the number of people exercising by going for a walk increased by 30 percent between 1987 and 1997.