Compact disc player:Discman

The Sony Corporation redefined the consumer electronics market in 1979 with its Walkman personal portable tape player. Not only was it small, but it offered Americans a musical soundtrack anywhere they went. As technology changed and LPs and cassettes gave way to the more dynamic and reliable compact discs in the 1980s, Sony sought to create a Walkman that could play CDs. By the time Sony introduced its Discman in 1988, CDs had almost completely driven the more cumbersome LP records from the market, and Americans snatched up the product in their growing hunger for the new music medium.

While portability had been a feature of American consumer electronics since the days of the transistor radio, Sony's line of personal stereos transformed the convenience of portability into a form of modern isolation. It became increasingly common to see people in public places who were tuned in to their music and tuned out of the world around them.