Did you know that... it was a Japanese
device called after a popular American
slang word for "boy" that spawned the age
of teenage mobile culture devices that
eventually gave us iPods, iTunes and
smartphones. In 1957 the Tokyo
Telecommunications Engineering
Corporation introduced the world's first
pocket transistor radio known as the
Sony TR-63 that was powered
by batteries small enough to allow the
device to fit into a shirt pocket.
As a result of the post WW II baby boom
experienced in a time of growing
prosperity in Western countries such
as the United States and the rise of
rock and roll music the pocket radio
became a symbol of an emerging
nonconformist and rebellious teenage
culture. The pocket radio allowed teenage
boys and girls to listen to their musical
icons anywhere they wanted far from the
prying eyes and ears of their parents.
