As a child of 1987, I am what many would consider a latecomer to the 'revolution' that was the 1980s. Despite being late to the disco, the decade still managed to arm me with a handful of pleasantries that I am happy to have under my belt. And I'm not just talking about the elastic belt on my happy pants.

My affection with the Sony Walkman is, like the other 220 million buyers I'm sure, special. Here is a device that saw me through my childhood and it was even belt-clipped onto my pants as I ventured into high school where I was laughed at by the older kids with Sony Discmans (jerks). The Walkman is an iconic device that, I for one, was looking forward to buying and embarrassing my future children with. Until now.

Sony recently dropped a bombshell on its unsuspecting, loyal customers and announced that its final shipment of Walkmans has been farewelled. Yes, you read correctly. Sony Japan have discontinued manufacturing its cassette-based Walkman and, to put it simply, I am not happy. Who do they think they are? No really, who? And why on earth, in this music loving age, does a company want to terminate the one music player they have that no one else wants to touch?

I'm not one to talk in the 'big scheme of things' but what if the 'Walkman age' was only the beginning? What if it was the pond that was about to experience a torrential downpour? I think these things could be big(ger) and I don't mean in size. Think Encarta to Wikipedia. Think Skateboards to Hoverboards. Think ping-pong to beer-pong. Walkmans aren't over, we all know they're the gift that keeps on giving. Just like denim print short shorts.

You see, the portable cassette player was the first technological item that you could take with you. It's like a friend you don't have to call, speak or be nice to and it would still hang out with you. Like the clingy annoying kid that was actually kind of useful when you didn't want to do things yourself. I mean, how on earth would they have made Home Alone 2 if it were for Kevin McCallister's Talk-boy? That thing was the poor kid's only friend, even his family hated him. But did the Talk-boy leave his side? No. It even helped him call Tim Curry a pervert.

And that's exactly why Walkmans are important. My Walkman was like my best friend, even if it was in a metaphorical manner. I could play with it, hang with it, talk with it and at the end of the day, all it would ever do is play the tunes I so longed to hear and would rarely complain. Sounds like an iPod, you say? No, it doesn't, that's the sound of a cassette.

But, at the end of the day, I guess it's time to accept these rash decisions and move on, even if I do feel so passionately about it. I'm sad, I'm disappointed, but at the end of the day you have to look at the positives.

And let's not forget, at least we still have our mini-disc players.

The opinions expressed in The 7PM Side Project blog do not necessarily reflect those of The 7PM Project or the Ten Network.