So I should start this out with a rant about how much technology has changed over the years and just how far we've come and blah blah blah, but I'm not going to do such a silly thing. I'm just going to jump right in and say it's not nice to make fun of the last kid picked for dodge ball. Yes, cassette tapes are outdated, but don't laugh at them, they're totally retro! Sure, you indie kids have your records and the occasional mix tape, but the nostalgia or the good ol' cassette seems to be lost in "Ooooh... yeah, they sucked." Well, I'm prepared to stick up for them.
First and foremost we explore the mix tape. The notorious creature that plagued the angst ridden teenagers of the 80s and early 90s. Screw them. For you fellow 20-somethings out there, they were about twice your age at this time and just far too cool to hang out with you. My first mix tape featured carefully selected works from my Disney tapes. Yeah, I was that awesome. The mix tape now lives on, evolving from mix CDs to playlists. Back then you basically had to FORCE people to listen to your whole tape, now they can just skip around. My how times change.
Second of all, I think the cassette is the reason for my cat like reflexes. Want to skip through a song? You can't just press a button and the next song magically starts playing. Oh no, you have to go through the WHOLE song... or deal with the fast forward button- that wondrous little thing that turned a song into garbled nonsense... sometimes it was better off that way. Eventually you got good enough to realize when those 5 seconds of silence pass you by in the fast forward and it's time to stop the tape and enjoy the song you wanted to listen to in the first place.
Third of all, I miss the sounds a cassette player makes. The clicking the tape into place, the end of the tape sound and the subsequent rewind. So this part may just be complete nostalgia, but today's music players are far to silent. Except for the click a clicka clicka that ipods make, but does anyone keep that setting?
So let's give the cassette tape a break. They served their purpose in the evolution of music listening technology. And they are much better than the 8 track. Maybe not as retro cool as the record player, but they'll get there. I can already see some of the nostalgia. On another note, I have no sympathy for the VHS. Except for the giant plastic boxes the Disney movies used to come in.
