And so it ends. Sony has announced that the cassette player, the world’s first portable music player, begins its last great journey off to the happy hunting grounds of other bygone tech products. So long, tape player. So long, “Walkman.” You opened us up to a brave, new world in which we were free to leave our house and listen to music without needing to be mindful of who or what was going on around us. For that, we are forever grateful. The world was not worthy of you. May you one day return as an object hipsters can listen to ironically, insisting that it “sounds better” than digital music or something. Until then, fare thee well …