[Yo-Yo]

The one enabling technology that made the Walkman a success wasn't the portable cassette player itself.

It was the invention of the rare-earth magnet headphones that allowed deep bass and crisp highs from small lightweight drivers, at very low power levels from the amplifier.

They later morphed into earbuds, but if the old fashioned ear piece from the 1960s transistor radio were the only thing around, the tinny sound wouldn't make the Walkman a success. If large, full earcup headphones were used, their power requirements would exceed the capabilities of the small portable player.

No, the Neodymium magnet earphones was the technology that started the personal portable music phenomenon.

[Roccus]

There ya go...

Clouding the issue with common sense and logic!

[Yardstick]

I remember the first time I heard a Walkman and being blown away by the sound. Of course everything is relative and at the time my only references were a mediocre small home stereo system and the generally crappy car stereos of the time. The Walkman was far from hifi but was probably the closest I had gotten to hifi at the time.