A closer look
Sony sold millions of Walkmans starting in 1979, but a German inventor named Andreas Pavel actually patented the first portable stereo cassette player a full two years earlier. Pavel called his bulky, incredibly uncool prototype the Stereobelt, which literally required users to strap a massive audio contraption around their waist like an aggressively nerdy championship wrestling belt. He spent over two decades engaged in brutal, financially draining legal battles against Sony, desperately trying to prove that he birthed the concept of walking around while listening to recorded music. Sony finally settled out of court in 2003 for several million dollars, proving that having a brilliant idea is entirely worthless unless you also have the marketing budget to make it look mildly fashionable
