Sound cards were a thing because DOS/Windows was a thing. In the Mac/Amiga/non-DOS world sound was good enough very early. As soon as we said "we need sound,"

Sound cards were a thing because DOS/Windows was a thing. In the Mac/Amiga/non-DOS world sound was good enough very early. As soon as we said "we need sound," it was there, as long as you weren't on DOS. The Amiga Video Blaster card was a thing, too. Your Android/iOS/PalmOS device surpassed that long ago.