The cassette device is mostly available in Japan, and will not be missed – but we should not forget the device that paved the way for the current range of MP3 and Portable Media Players. June 1979 was when Sony introduced us to the Walkman, and I can still remember my first one – seems strange how it did not feel bulky at the time.

Who would have thought that 31 years ago the device would have went on to sell more than 220 million units, Daisuke Wakabayashi from WSJ believes that it was the Walkman that helped to put Sony on the map – and we would have to agree with that. However, it is a shame that they no longer lead the way in portable music and video devices, Apple’s range of portable media devices is now king.

For those who love the old media format, then there could be a revival of the cassette player in a decade or two – you only have to look at a range of products that allows you to connect your Vinyl record players to your computer via USB. Watch this space.