Re: Walkman
There wasn't a cassette tape made that was not easily damaged.
Oh, the joy (for the hundredth time) of trying to carefully unwrap your precious album rip tape from the rubber drive roller that got sticky and personal with said tape. Invariably the removal of the cassette would leave the tape's guts entangled in the innards of the player, forcing the sacrifice of a portion of the music, and yet another splice job. Or you could drag out the vinyl and record a new one, assuming you actually owned the vinyl.
CD's killed vinyl, and then the arrival of burnable CD's (sans moving parts!) nuked cassettes. Vinyl may still have fans, but cassettes are better off in the land fill.