Personal Stereo

Sony's portable cassette player reached shoppers in 1979 and offered something new: private access to whatever music a person chose, wherever they went. Critics, however, saw it as a symbol of narcissism, a gadget that epitomized the self-absorbed attitudes attributed to the era's young people. Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow returns to the device's origins, examining the court fights over who deserved credit for inventing it, the mixed welcome it received in 1980s America, and the way it reshaped everyday manners and the use of shared spaces.

The account moves from postwar Japan to the present day. Along the way, the author uses the Walkman's story to illuminate how people emotionally respond when technology changes their lives.