Attention, the 160 million or so owners of an Apple iPod MP3 player: take out those white earbuds and listen for a second. Before the iPod became ubiquitous — way, way before — there was the Walkman.

Items in hand: Aiwa Walkman, Philips 1200 W stereo system. Needed 3.5-inch pin cable. Connected the Audio Out of my PC to the Aux In of my Philips stereo system using the 3.5-inch pin cable. Popped in ...