-
Portable Transistor Radio
The Regency TR-1 radio measured 3″ x 5″ x 1.25″ and featured an analog AM tuner. -
Period: to
Portable Music History
-
Philips Compact Casette and Norelco Carrycorder
In 1965, Philips released the first ever compact cassette tape. Originally designed for recording dictations and other boring stuff, the cassette recorded up 45 minutes of sound on single 1/8-inch tape. -
TPS-L2 Walkman cassette player.
Back in the 1970's and 1980's Sony was the king of miniaturization, and in 1979, they released the first truly self-contained portable music system, the TPS-L2 Walkman cassette player.
The Walkman’s real innovation was its size, measuring only slightly larger than a cassette tape itself. Featuring a pair of portable, lightweight headphones and operating on AA batteries, it ushered in a new era of portability. The original Walkman retailed for 33,000 Japanese Yen, which would be around $274 US do -
Sony Discman D-50
On the one year anniversary of the introduction of compact discs, Sony introduced their D-50 portable CD player, the first ever portable digital music player. The -
SaeHan / Eiger Labs MPMan F10
The MPMan was the very first MP3 player of all time. It featured a whopping 32MB of RAM (expandable to 64MB by sending the player back to Eiger for an upgrade,) and held about 8 average length tracks (around 32 minutes of music.)
The MPMan appeared on shelves in the summer of 1998, and ran on a rechargeable NiMH battery pack. Since the player used solid state memory, it actually had about 9 hours of battery life, which is still better than many hard drive based players today. -
Apple Ipod and Itunes
The original iPod, released in 2001 combined a 5GB hard drive with a rechargeable battery pack and a paradigm breaking user interface. Marketed by Steve Jobs as “1000 songs in your pocket,” the iPod didn’t necessarily do that much differently under the hood from other MP3 players, but it had a sleek design (by 2001 standards), a unique and simple navigational system, and the Apple brand name to back it all up. -
Nike PSA Play 120
Nike releases the PSA Play 120, the first MP3 player aimed at the workout crowd, with an armband and a coating to keep sweat from getting into the player. -
Second Generation of Apple Ipod
The second generation Apple iPod arrives, offering up to 20GB of storage and built-in Windows compatibility. Apple also launches the iTunes Music Store, which will grow to become one of the largest music distribution services online. -
Archos Jukebox Multimedia
Archos releases Jukebox Multimedia, letting users record from a camera attachment and view photos and video. This MP3 player is the first portable multimedia device. -
Ipod 5th Generation
The fifth generation Apple iPod adds a color screen and video playback, along with 60GB of storage. -
Music Phones Take Over
More MP3 players are sold in musicphones than as stand-alone devices. -
Microsoft Zune
The first-generation Zune device was created by Microsoft in close cooperation with Toshiba, which took the design of the Gigabeat S and redeveloped it under the name Toshiba 1089 as registered with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) starting in 2006. Xbox 360 overseer J Allard ran the project, codenamed "Argo," staffed with Xbox and MSN Music Store developers who worked on "Alexandria", finalized as Zune Marketplace. Both products were later united under the Zune brand name -
Iphone and Ipod Touch
Apple releases iPhone and iPod Touch. These MP3 players feature touch screens, Web connectivity and downloadable software that expands their functionality. -
Apple Continues to Dominate the Market
With touch screens and Ipod originals holding up to 160 GB, Apple continues to recruit it's sheeple to buy the next best thing.
