Pop Culture

On This Day In History
1979: The first Sony Walkman goes on sale

Quote Of The Day
"In the summer of 1981, Cliff Richard signalled to the world that it was time for us to collectively withdraw into our own private musical worlds."
(Independent, Washington Post )

Sony's co-founder, Masaru Ibuka, used to enjoy listening to music while travelling but was forced to carry around a bulky cassette-recorder. So he asked Norio Ohga, the Executive Deputy President at that time, to design a playback-only stereo version with headphones. Ibuka bought the Ohga's creation to Chairman Akio Morita who liked what he saw.

Predicted to sell 5,000 units per month in Japan, the first Walkman sold 50,000 units in the first two months. The first Walkman sold in the U.S. the TPS-L2, was released in June 1980, and soon afterwards went on sale around the world. 

To date, 200,020,000 Walkman music players have been sold, half of those being cassette players. 

Wired For Sound

Today's image shows two characters from the popular Japanese anime Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaibo. Tanjiro Kamado is a demon slayer. He joined the team to find a cure for his sister, Nezuko Kamado, who was turned into a demon by Muzan Kibutsuji. Nezuko wears a bamboo cane in her mouth to keep her from biting people.