Time to rewind some nostalgia: Cassette tapes turn 50!
How many of us remember the days when we used to insert the reel tape into the audio player and listen to the songs or even record one?
Doesn't feel too long but then now, with more and more modern techniques like the DVD player and the MP3 player, there is room no more for these cassettes. It has literally turned into an object that would confuse teenagers worldwide.
The
beloved
instrument
of
the
music
lovers
of
the
80s
turns
50
and
might
soon
be
a
thing
of
the
past.
And
hence
it's
not
quite
shocking
as
it
turns
50
years.
These
audio
cassette
were
the
inception
of
engineers
at
Philips.
Though
its
precise
birthday
is
open
to
debates,
Philips
is
insistent
that
the
format
was
officially
launched
at
its
Amsterdam
HQ
on
September
13th,
1963.
The length of audio tape was 3.15 millimeters wide ran at 1-7/8 inches per second. It was originally designed to replace reel-to-reel tape for dictation but became far more popular than that.
From listening to Devdas hits and coaxing our dads into buying us the remix hits cassettes so that we could shake a leg in the privacy of our room, or simply keep listening to a song by rewinding several number of times till the tapes basically gave up and started playing a weird noise.
Remember how they slowly deteriorated in quality when you listened to them over and over? Or that horrible noise they used to make on rewinding?
For many of us it's both an iconic object and an emotional source of misty-eyed nostalgia. Ah, those were the days!