Casette Tapes
Cassette Tapes
By: Steven Erquiza
The cassette tape was one of the first technologies that allowed people to share recordings and music on a broader scale. Today, we may think that cassette tapes are vintage and retro artifacts from the old days. But this clever invention helped society improve to some of the best technologies ever to come into existence. So let's give appreciation to cassette tapes (clapping hands).
The Origins of Cassette Tapes
The Compact Cassette (aka Cassette Tape) was developed by the Philips company in 1962 in Belgium. Philips showed the invention to Europe at the Berlin Radio Show on August 30, 1963: Although Philips was in competition with other companies, they decided to license the invention free of charge. This decision made it possible for them to emerge as a leader in this industry. Soon, cassette tapes were mass-produced everywhere in Hanover, Germany, the following year. In late 1965, the cassette tapes had pre-recorded content called music cassettes (M.C. for short) and became mainstream in the U.S. in 1966. By 1968, over 2.4 million players had been sold. Before that, listening to music was primarily vinyl-based, not convenient for traveling. The cassette tape made it convenient to take your favorite music wherever you go.
The Compact Cassette holds 2 small spools inside its plastic exterior. These spools wind the magnetic coated film and pass it from one side to the other. This magnetic film is where the audio content is stored and can be recorded on a cassette tape.
What was the Buzz About?
The Compact Cassette revolutionized listening to music because it gave them the ability to listen and record audio tracks by themselves. Before the Compact Cassette, the reel-to-reel technology was hard to operate, and it was bulky, so traveling with it was not convenient. It required training, so it was operated mainly by professionals in radio. So, when Cassette tapes were widely available, it was revolutionary for this reason. Not only were your favorite audio tracks available, but you could also create your own mixtape to give to a friend or a special someone. It was considered a thoughtful and romantic gift since planning the playlist and recording the tracks took time. There wasn't an add to the playlist button like we have today.