Actually, it would be the Sony Walkman.

@hufnmouth:
No, actually there was an MP3 (only in the loosest sense of the word) back in the 1970s. It could hold a whopping 3 minutes of data. Surprisingly, it never caught on, but it is the true granddaddy of all MP3 players. Besides, iPod is just the most common one. Everyone forgets the Zen and Creative MP3 players that came out in the mid/late 1990s.

@Sticky: [citation needed]

@hufnmouth:
“Kane Kramer designed one of the earliest digital audio players, which he called the IXI. His 1979 prototype was capable of approximately 3.5 minutes of audio playback but it did not enter commercial production. The related patents expired in 1988. Apple Inc. hired Kramer as a consultant and presented his work as an example of prior art in the field of digital audio players during their litigation with Burst.com almost two decades later.”

…[citation given]

@hufnmouth:
Also, I generally despite Fox News, but as this isn’t political, I think it’s alright. www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,419522,00.html

While we’re here, the first marketed Mp3 player was the Eiger MPman f10.

Just sayin’.

@Sticky: you’ve got to be joking

@ColombianMonkey:
Surely you jest at the prospect of me jesting.

@Sticky: shhh stop blowing the cover -_-

That’s not true… THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE!!

@Dreth:
And CDs are your sister!

@Sticky: Interesting.. I belive you meant Zune (by microsoft) as Creative holds the Zen line.

@Drunkin:
No, Zunes came out after the iPod phase. I thought Creative didn’t get the Zen license until they purchased the name for a hefty sum?

@Sticky: Well played. It wouldn’t be the first thing Jobs has stolen.

Also, 3.5 minutes? That’s just the intro to Baba O’Reilly. No wonder he couldn’t market it.

Hmmmm… I think I still have a box of these stashed somewhere, mostly Iron Maiden albums. Good times, good times.

@hufnmouth:
Yeah, but it really was the first digital audio player. Really the progenitor of the modern day ones that can hold a gajillion songs and still have enough room for the entire Star Trek series on the internal hard drive.

I think this all plays into the idea that the “Mix Tape” was the first real attempt at personalizing music. Your standard guy/gal off of the street could not create their own vinyl or 8-track and therefore were at the mercy of the recording studios. The MIX TAPE came along and Whammy I don’t have to listen to the other 10 shit tracks and just skim the cream off of the album. You techies talking “tech” should realize this is about the empowerment of personal choice not the code or the machines.