MAKE: Blog: Cassette tape culture

Cassette tape culture

Dbccb
Design boom's cassette tape culture -

these days it is hard to avoid the continuing debate that surrounds the 'future of music' and the formats that bring it to us. however this so called 'digital age' isn't the first time that new music formats have created such a stir, some time not too long ago it was cassette tapes that were causing the music industry concern. the design of the cassette tape was resolved in the 1960s by the dutch electronics company philips as a portable alternative to the large vinyl formats. having not been patented the cassette tape design was quickly copied by many manufacturers leading to its widespread use. during the mid 1980s cassettes were at their most popular accounting for more than half of the worlds total music sales. alongside the attraction of music on the move, the cassette tape offered the opportunity for people to edit and customize their music easily for the first time. the DIY ethic of the tapes didn't stop with home recording though, as many people often created their own artwork for their mixes.

cassette tape culture - [via] Link.

Related:

Comments

Oldest comments listed first.

Posted by: SpaceMooseMasterOfTime on August 8, 2007 at 11:56 AM

I, for one, do not miss the cassette tape AT ALL.

Posted by: airship on August 9, 2007 at 8:29 AM

Don't forget, cassette tape was also the very first affordable storage medium for personal computers. Back when disk drives cost a half a year's pay, you could hook up a boombox to your KIM-1, Ohio Scientific Challenger, or COSMAC Elf and store multi-kilobytes of data almost for free! If it hadn't been for affordable cassette tape storage, the home PC industry would have been delayed by a good ten years.

Here's a picture of my first Commodore 64 setup, complete with boombox storage system:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/airship/313003203/in/set-72057594091264872/

Subscribe to MAKE Magazine!

Subscribe today, save 42% and get web access to MAKE free. MAKE Digital Edition is available only to subscribers.

$34.95 / 1 year
(4 Quarterly Issues)

Subscribe now

Void your warranty, violate a user agreement, fry a circuit, blow a fuse, poke an eye out... Welcome to the Make Blog!

The online premiere of Make: television is January 3rd 2009, visit makezine.tv or iTunes to see the entire first episode! The broadcast premiere will follow shortly after depending on when your local Public Television station airs it.

Happy New Year from MAKE!

MAKE's 2009 New Year's message.
What we're making in 2009.

MAKE's RSS feed is here.
Add MAKE to iGoogle - GoogleGoogle.
How to add MAKE to your RSS reader - Real simple.
Add MAKE on Twitter.
MAKE's fan page on Facebook.
Add MAKE on FriendFeed

Why advertise on MAKE?
Read what folks are saying about us!

Click here to advertise on MAKE!

Makezine authors!

Phillip Torrone
Senior Editor
Tel: 707-827-7311
Twitter / AIM

Gareth Branwyn
Jonah Brucker-Cohen
Chris Connors
Collin Cunningham
Marc de Vinck
Mike Dixon
Peter Horvath(intern)
Kip Kay
Luke Iseman
John Park
Patti Schiendelman
Becky Stern
Jason Striegel

Suggest a Site!

Current Podcast

Weekend Project: Simple Laser Communicator (PDF) Secretly shoot your voice across the room on a laser beam. Thanks go to Simon Quellen Field for the original article in Make: Volume 16 View the PDF... More...

Get the Make blog sent via email

Enter your email to receive the Make blog each day:

WOW! Thanks to everyone involved with Maker Faire Bay Area and Maker Faire Austin in 2008: attendees, makers, exhibitors, sponsors, volunteers, and crew...it was an AMAZING year! Over 1,000 Makers and 87,000+ attendees total! Be sure to check out the photos @ Flickr, and our Maker Faire posts for all the action! Check back for dates for 2009 soon!