Walkmans

Today, living in the golden era of technology, we have seen so many innovative gadgets being introduced into the market.  The sizes became smaller, lighter and more affordable to the public, that we tend to forget that there was a time when some of the earlier versions of these items were considered as a 'luxury'.

The above Sony walkman (TPS-L2) was the first of it's kind and was made known to the public on 1st July 1979. At that time, no one has ever seen something as small as that. The walkman consisted of 2 parts: 1) the tape player and 2) the lightest earphones in the world.

Unsure of the public's acceptance and to avoid being known as inciting young people to be anti-social, Sony has made the first model with 2 earphones (so that you can share listening to it with a friend).
After 25 years of producing 330 billion units being sold, Sony has decided to stop making the walkmans as of 22 October 2010. 

I still have my first and only walkman (combination of tape recorder, cassette player and radio), bought after I finished form 5. Although it was not one of the Sony's special editions, it has been a part of my student's life in France. The cassettes were bigger than what you would have today, although the earphones were of the compact and easy to carry type. (Phew.. at least I can say that I am not yet that ancient).

Nowadays, it's hard to find a shop which sells cassettes. All they have are CD's or DVDs.
For those that still have those earlier models of walkmans, it would be good to hold on to them (and in mint condition). It would probably be worth a fortune in the next 100 years from now on.
Who knows..:p