everything on demand

"Everything on demand" began in 1979.

Long before your smartphone was constantly in your hand, and never more than two feet from you at any time (unless you were charging it), the first mass mobile device was the SONY Walkman.

It began as an adaptation of the SONY Pressman, a small, portable recording device used by the media. At the request of Masaru Ibuka, SONY Co-Founder, the Pressman was adapted into a smaller, playback version so he could listen to music during business trips. The Pressman became the Walkman.

The Sony Walkman made everyone the main character. “Life became a film.” as Andreas Pavel, Inventor, once said. “It emotionalized your life.” Pavel invented what he called a Stereobelt, in 1977 and filed an infringement against SONY in 1989, receiving a cash settlement.

The closest device any competitor had at that time was the portable radio, but with a Walkman, you could create your own playlists and listen to whatever you wanted whenever you wanted. Not to mention, it became the most important fashion accessory of the decade, wearable tech.

Many mobile devices followed. The cellular telephone, compact camera, Gameboy, laptop computers, Palm Pilot, the Blackberry and finally - the device to incorporate every other mobile device into one, the smartphone.

Everything on demand, fully enabled by the smartphone, was no longer just an option or a choice, but became the default mindset. Fully rooted in the immediacy of digital.