MiniDisc

Sony MZ-1 MiniDisc Walkman, 1992 The MZ-1 introduced MiniDisc, and with it the idea that you could record your own digital mixes onto a disc small enough for a shirt pocket. It used the first version of Sony's ATRAC compression and recorded up to 74 minutes, from a microphone, a line input or an optical digital feed. As a first model it was too big, too expensive and short on battery next to cassette Walkmans, and collectors should know that. The format it launched went on to win a devoted following as the mixtape medium of the 1990s, with tracks you could erase or combine in seconds while the rest renumbered themselves, which made it the closest thing to a playlist before MP3.