That 1981 story is bizarre. Pocketable (AM-only!) transistor radios with an earphone were on the market in the 50s and the "little Japanese radio" was ubiquitous by the 1960s.
By 1981 I'm sure there were people still grousing about the good old days but it would have been the equivalent of complaining about e-mail and the death of the handwritten letter in the 2010s (and I'm sure NPR has done more than one story about that in this decade because that's their shtick).
The Walkman was revolutionary because it was a portable cassette deck, the first true plays-anywhere format that allowed someone to completely divorce themselves from radio music without any compromises.
By 1981 I'm sure there were people still grousing about the good old days but it would have been the equivalent of complaining about e-mail and the death of the handwritten letter in the 2010s (and I'm sure NPR has done more than one story about that in this decade because that's their shtick).
The Walkman was revolutionary because it was a portable cassette deck, the first true plays-anywhere format that allowed someone to completely divorce themselves from radio music without any compromises.