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The cultural change you describe seems to be minor: enjoy music privately, (minor) decline in social interaction. The iPhone doesn't get credit to be the first

The cultural change you describe seems to be minor: enjoy music privately, (minor) decline in social interaction. The iPhone doesn't get credit to be the first, as you said, but triggered the broad adaptation and therefore has the bigger cultural impact across many dimensions.

hnlmorg 5y ago
> The cultural change you describe seems to be minor: enjoy music privately, (minor) decline in social interaction. I also said: > Sure, there have been bigger changes to society, like the web, like micro computers, like kitchen appliances or even the car. But the Walkman is probably the least discussed and least credited of them. Plus those changes were still much larger than "dating apps", "review apps" and the other suggestions you raised :P > The iPhone doesn't get credit to be the first, as you said, but triggered the broad adaptation and therefore has the bigger cultural impact across many dimensions. Did it though? I cited several reasons why I disagree with that already: - Android - pre-existing feature phones with J2EE app support - Android - pre-existing PDAs - Android - pre-existing cameras - Android - pre-existing music players, like the Walkman! - oh and had I mentioned that Android, RIM and others massively outsold iOS for years in Europe. I'm an iPhone user myself so don't take this as biased view point. But iPhone took a hell of a lot longer to penetrate the European market than it did America. And we haven't even touched Russian, Indian or African markets. People on HN seem to forget that other markets exist and Apple weren't nearly as influential on them.
- UweSchmidt 5y ago
  I agree that the walkman got very little credit in historical importance. But even the walkman wasn't that widespread; on a train in the 80s or 90s really only a small number of people was using one, as far as I remember. Actual significant changes would have been if, say, an important musical genre was born out of it, or a social movement was enabled by walkmen which is not the case I think. That's why I said "broad adaptation". These days there are situations where everone in a room is looking into the smartphone. So, the iPhone as a coincidental almaganation of already existing, maturing technologies happened to be in the right place at the right time to be considered as a historic turningpoint, without taking anything away from the pre-existing feature phones wiht J2EE app support.
  - hnlmorg 5y ago
    Walkman was massive with < 20s in my town. By the mid-90s most kids had one (if not Sony then certainly some other brand). Maybe it was a regional thing
- skydhash 5y ago
  I live in Haiti and people here will readily buy a used Samsung phone for about $100 or a cheap Chinese one for less. Used iPhones can go for $300 or more. iPhone penetration is very low and most people only have the 6 and 7 one.
- beamatronic 5y ago
  Not even Android. The Palm OS, particularly on Treo, did nearly every function that an iPhone does today. The Treo even had a selfie mirror near the camera.. I had Facebook for Palm OS 13 years ago.
jimt1234 5y ago
Parents hated the Walkman. They said pretty much the same thing we say about the youngs these days with their devices: they're "tuned out". And, to be honest, they were right. We put on our Walkmans and listened to our mixtapes, ignoring social interaction. This was a major cultural change, and personally, I think this is a significant reason my generation (GenX) became known as the "slacker" generation.

hnlmorg 5y ago

> The cultural change you describe seems to be minor: enjoy music privately, (minor) decline in social interaction. I also said: > Sure, there have been bigger changes to society, like the web, like micro computers, like kitchen appliances or even the car. But the Walkman is probably the least discussed and least credited of them. Plus those changes were still much larger than "dating apps", "review apps" and the other suggestions you raised :P > The iPhone doesn't get credit to be the first, as you said, but triggered the broad adaptation and therefore has the bigger cultural impact across many dimensions. Did it though? I cited several reasons why I disagree with that already: - Android - pre-existing feature phones with J2EE app support - Android - pre-existing PDAs - Android - pre-existing cameras - Android - pre-existing music players, like the Walkman! - oh and had I mentioned that Android, RIM and others massively outsold iOS for years in Europe. I'm an iPhone user myself so don't take this as biased view point. But iPhone took a hell of a lot longer to penetrate the European market than it did America. And we haven't even touched Russian, Indian or African markets. People on HN seem to forget that other markets exist and Apple weren't nearly as influential on them.

UweSchmidt 5y ago
I agree that the walkman got very little credit in historical importance. But even the walkman wasn't that widespread; on a train in the 80s or 90s really only a small number of people was using one, as far as I remember. Actual significant changes would have been if, say, an important musical genre was born out of it, or a social movement was enabled by walkmen which is not the case I think. That's why I said "broad adaptation". These days there are situations where everone in a room is looking into the smartphone. So, the iPhone as a coincidental almaganation of already existing, maturing technologies happened to be in the right place at the right time to be considered as a historic turningpoint, without taking anything away from the pre-existing feature phones wiht J2EE app support.
- hnlmorg 5y ago
  Walkman was massive with < 20s in my town. By the mid-90s most kids had one (if not Sony then certainly some other brand). Maybe it was a regional thing
skydhash 5y ago
I live in Haiti and people here will readily buy a used Samsung phone for about $100 or a cheap Chinese one for less. Used iPhones can go for $300 or more. iPhone penetration is very low and most people only have the 6 and 7 one.
beamatronic 5y ago
Not even Android. The Palm OS, particularly on Treo, did nearly every function that an iPhone does today. The Treo even had a selfie mirror near the camera.. I had Facebook for Palm OS 13 years ago.

jimt1234 5y ago

Parents hated the Walkman. They said pretty much the same thing we say about the youngs these days with their devices: they're "tuned out". And, to be honest, they were right. We put on our Walkmans and listened to our mixtapes, ignoring social interaction. This was a major cultural change, and personally, I think this is a significant reason my generation (GenX) became known as the "slacker" generation.