1979 PORTABLE MUSIC PLAYER NAME TOP MUSIC INVENTION OF LAT 50 YEARS

The top music invention of the last half-century isn’t an iPod or Napster or the MP3 format, but rather a predecessor to all of those things, according to a popular technology magazine.

On its 30th birthday, the Sony Walkman was named the most influential music creation of the last 50 years by T3 magazine, beating out a whole host of modern inventions.

“It changed the way we access music, changed how often we could access music, and changed a generation,” said
Kat Hannaford at T3, adding that the MP3 digital music format, which came second in the list, and the iPod music player, which came third, would be impossible without the Walkman revolution.

The first Walkman was released in Japan on July 1, 1979 and within two years was the “must-have” gadget of every music connoisseur and high school hipster on the planet.

It may be a relic now — going down in history with other musical technology pioneers like 8-track tapes and phonographs — but it has carved a lasting impression on modern fixtures.

And, for that, it is deservedly the most influential music creation of the last 50 years.