Top Music Inventions from the Past 50 Years

Rob Williams · 07-07-2009, 04:35 AM

From our front-page news:

If there's one thing many of us can relate to, it'd be our love for music, whether it's listening or playing. If you share a similar passion as I do for listening to whatever genre strikes your fancy, could you pick just one particular music-related invention that you'd consider to be the most important ever to be unveiled?

I'd personally vote for the MP3 file format, because although it wasn't the first digital music format to hit the market, it was the one that really kicked-off some amazing things to come. Such things include MP3 players (iPod, Zune, Sansa, etc), digital music sharing/purchasing and overall, the ease of handling such files. Imagine if today we still had to deal with our hard-copy CDs just to listen to the music... insane!

Online tech magazine T3 picks their top ten music inventions, and not surprisingly, the MP3 format (and even Napster) is on there, but their first is still a good one... Sony's Walkman. If you were alive in the 90's and enjoyed music, chances are you owned one of these bulky players that are quite humorous to look at today. I'm not a fan of ultra-small MP3 players such as the iPod Nano, but I sure prefer it over a book-sized player!

Without a shadow of a doubt, Sony’s portable music box altered the way we think about and enjoy music forever, and such an achievement has got us thinking about all the other innovations in music that should be celebrated and revered with just as much gusto. Thus, we’ve compiled a list of the top ten innovations in music tech over the last 50 years. As Friedrich Nietzsche once said: “Life without music would be a mistake.”

Source: T3 Magazine

madmat · 07-07-2009, 03:24 PM

I remember seeing my first Walkman in the very early 80's, it was, for lack of a better word, awesome. I'd almost like to find one from then to have as a collectible.

madstork91 · 07-08-2009, 02:23 AM

Sonos Multi-Room Music System

I am in awe of this... I really LOVE the concept. In college i had a wireless keyboard that i would take with me to the living room and hit next to change the song from the other room.

My one complaint... THE FREAKING COST. Seriously... I mean... wow.

Rob Williams · 07-09-2009, 04:28 AM

Matt, I hear you. It's a part of audio history, really. It's too bad though, I never really appreciated it back in the day for some reason. Today, we really take things for granted.

Stork, I agree... totally kick-ass.

07-07-2009, 04:35 AM	#1
Rob Williams Editor in Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 8,921	Top Music Inventions from the Past 50 Years From our front-page news: If there's one thing many of us can relate to, it'd be our love for music, whether it's listening or playing. If you share a similar passion as I do for listening to whatever genre strikes your fancy, could you pick just one particular music-related invention that you'd consider to be the most important ever to be unveiled? I'd personally vote for the MP3 file format, because although it wasn't the first digital music format to hit the market, it was the one that really kicked-off some amazing things to come. Such things include MP3 players (iPod, Zune, Sansa, etc), digital music sharing/purchasing and overall, the ease of handling such files. Imagine if today we still had to deal with our hard-copy CDs just to listen to the music... insane! Online tech magazine T3 picks their top ten music inventions, and not surprisingly, the MP3 format (and even Napster) is on there, but their first is still a good one... Sony's Walkman. If you were alive in the 90's and enjoyed music, chances are you owned one of these bulky players that are quite humorous to look at today. I'm not a fan of ultra-small MP3 players such as the iPod Nano, but I sure prefer it over a book-sized player! Without a shadow of a doubt, Sony’s portable music box altered the way we think about and enjoy music forever, and such an achievement has got us thinking about all the other innovations in music that should be celebrated and revered with just as much gusto. Thus, we’ve compiled a list of the top ten innovations in music tech over the last 50 years. As Friedrich Nietzsche once said: “Life without music would be a mistake.” Source: T3 Magazine __________________ Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 @ 3.20GHz, ASUS P5K Premium WiFi-AP, OCZ 8GB PC2-6400, EVGA GTX 285 1024MB Seagate 500GB, 750GB & 1TB, Pioneer 22x ODD, Corsair 1000HX, Thermalright Ultra-120, CM Storm Sniper Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Ultrasone PRO 750, Gentoo Linux (KDE 4.3.2, 2.6.31 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter Profiles: Last.fm \| Xbox Live \| Steam

07-07-2009, 03:24 PM	#2
madmat Former Editor Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Kennesaw GA Posts: 1,639	I remember seeing my first Walkman in the very early 80's, it was, for lack of a better word, awesome. I'd almost like to find one from then to have as a collectible. __________________ M2N32-SLI Deluxe, Brisbane X-2 4000+ @ 2986Mhz 2x1 gig OCZ PC26400 Platinum EVGA 7950GT SLI Buncha drives, Some other stuff, Even more stuff, If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside. --Robert X. Cringely, InfoWorld magazine Sign Me!

07-08-2009, 02:23 AM	#3
madstork91 The One, The Only... Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: TEXAS! Posts: 1,301	Sonos Multi-Room Music System I am in awe of this... I really LOVE the concept. In college i had a wireless keyboard that i would take with me to the living room and hit next to change the song from the other room. My one complaint... THE FREAKING COST. Seriously... I mean... wow. __________________ .www.StorkNineOne.com

07-09-2009, 04:28 AM	#4
Rob Williams Editor in Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 8,921	Matt, I hear you. It's a part of audio history, really. It's too bad though, I never really appreciated it back in the day for some reason. Today, we really take things for granted. Stork, I agree... totally kick-ass. __________________ Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 @ 3.20GHz, ASUS P5K Premium WiFi-AP, OCZ 8GB PC2-6400, EVGA GTX 285 1024MB Seagate 500GB, 750GB & 1TB, Pioneer 22x ODD, Corsair 1000HX, Thermalright Ultra-120, CM Storm Sniper Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Ultrasone PRO 750, Gentoo Linux (KDE 4.3.2, 2.6.31 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter Profiles: Last.fm \| Xbox Live \| Steam