Articles

Gramophone music records ruled the world for a long time before the arrival of cassette tapes. These are made out of vinyl and are the only way one can take the music home. Since these cannot be rerecorded, people bought tons of these records, as this was the best that was available at that time. The problem with the records is that they get scratched easily during handling and it is a sad day when you discover that your favorite song has a scratch on it.

Then the audio cassette was introduced to the public. This form was much more durable. And it came with a new added twist; everyone was able to record their own audio tapes! This opened the doors to all sorts of experimentation. People could record their own music, lectures or just whatever silliness they felt like.

The invention of the music cd, and the walkman, was truly revolutionary. Before the cd, the most portable form of music was a radio or a boom box. The cd freed the music lover. The walkman not only meant portable music, it also meant no one but the walkman owner had to hear the music. This was a great relief for society's ears.

The audio cassette suffers from sequential access, which means that you have to listen to every single song on the tape and there was no skipping of songs. Since the cassettes are not random access devices, in case you want to listen to a specific song you have to rewind and wait until it gets to that song. However, there is no way one can reach the starting of the desired song and the process is a trial and error method, which resulted in its downfall.

The audio cassette has lost most of its old market, but not all of it. There are still many people who swear that the audio cassette is at least the equal of the CD or the MP3. In addition, the creation of digital audio tapes allows the humble cassette to have a new lease on life. If you prefer your IPod, that's your concern; we'll stick with what we enjoy.

We that did grow up with the old style mixed tapes, will always have a special place in our hearts for the tapes that allowed us to be our own DJs. But now we all have lap tops and MP3 player we have to really let that art out. However we won't forget.

Audio cassettes were an improvement over records because they were more durable and versatile. For the first time, people could make their own recordings and carry them everywhere. However, it was difficult to choose the order in which one listened to songs on the tape. While most people have moved on to new recording technologies, the audio tape is not dead. Some even use digital audio tapes. Computers allow us to mix music more easily, but the old art of mix tapes will always have a place in our hearts. The technology that first allowed our generation to record our own "records" for the first time will never be forgotten.