TTP | Rewinding an Old Friend
Cassettes -
June 17th, 2010
We were moving bins around the storage unit yesterday when we found a beat up shoebox stuffed with ancient tidbits from a long dead junk drawer. Amongst the dusty miscellany was an old TDK cassette, hand-labeled with the initials S.N.S.T. on it for "Saturday Night Sure Thing" (read today’s blog for the playlist). We held the tail-trawling talisman in our hands for a moment, and remembered our mullet rocking high school days.
Yeah, the technology is obsolete, but we’ll take a heart-poured-into, painstakingly mixed and chosen piece of plastic over a hastily drug i-Pod playlist any day.
[What do you think about ... Cassettes?]
|
34K
|
Cassettes were sold in 2009, per Nielsen Soundscan. It was the worst year for cassette sales since the record-industry data provider started keeping sales numbers in 1991. At its peak in the mid 80s, music cassettes sold 900 million units a year. |
To me, making a tape is like writing a letter — there's a lot of erasing and rethinking and starting again. A good compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do.
 |
|
|
Nick Hornby, High Fidelity
|
 |
 |
j-card
|
|
noun. the paper card in the plastic storage case of audio cassettes.
Used in a sentence: Dude, Stu wasn’t messing around on this Yanni mix. He actually typed the track listing on the j-card.
The cassette was perfected by Dutch electronics giant Philips in the 1960s. Since Philips didn’t charge royalties on their patent, other companies used their design for free. This allowed the cassette to move from niche product to a new media format.
It also caused the inventors' wives, who wanted nicer houses, to say, “what the f*ck do you mean 'free'?”
Renew, Reuse, Recycle
| Cassette tape lamp | Dumpster chic, homeless hip, or awesome looking? An illuminating idea. |
| Cassette tape wallet | Still trying to figure out if this is cool, or dumber than hell? Leaning towards hell. |
| Cassette tape closet | A great way to store your vinyl, CDs, and to ruin your old mix tapes. |
| Sonic fabric | Audio cassette tape fabric. Ask your gal to fast forward to the good parts of the date. |
| Cassette tape purse | Are we sure that’s a purse, or a chameleon’s bush? |
 |
Technology is a consistent one-upper. Tomorrow’s new advancement will soon be yesterday’s news. We are all about discovering the next big thing, but remember your history too. Strap on this phenomenal watch, and pay homage to a relic that once rocked you. |
loading...
