The Sony Walkman is 30 years old. I still recall seeing my first Walkman. I was amazed at how good the sound quality was and yet how small it was. It was revolutionary to me.
There was another revolution, too. A social one. There was alot of talk at the time about how people were tuning out the world even as they were moving through it. It was not seen as a positive development.
All that has changed now, and how this technology is perceived now is very different than it was back then. To see how different, I recommend reading this article on the BBC web site. They asked a 13 year old to give up his iPod for a Walkman and to report back his experiences. It’s a good read: BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | Giving up my iPod for a Walkman
Smart People I Know 
P.S. Thanks to sascha_p on twitter for pointing it out. sascha_p is well worth following, especially if you are interested in technology like netbooks.