Records were once among people's most highly prized possessions. They were the only way you could listen to your favorite songs in the comfort of your own home. Many people owned huge numbers of records, and they were the best technology available at the time. However, records were vulnerable to damage, and it was always distressing to find out your favorite had been scratched.
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.
This new and more compact form of recording music also led way to the walkman revolution. Now youth were able to take their loud music with them. This was revolutionary! Previous to this the most portable music had been was either a car radio or boom box. The walkman allowed this portable music to only be heard by the wearer. What a relief!
There was a major problem with the audio cassette- there was no way to skip forward or backward reliably on the tape. If you were wanting to skip over one particularly disliked song, for instance, you would have to fast-forward beyond it and then hope that you didn't go too far and have to backtrack, or not go far enough and be stuck listening to part of the disliked song.
But that is not to say that the audio cassette is dead. Even with the invention of the CD and the MP3, there are still those who swear by the audio cassette. Some even have moved into the realm of digital audio tapes. It's just that the majority of our society has chosen to move on to inventions like the iPod.
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.
The audio cassette was a huge advance for two reasons- first, cassettes were more durable than vinyl discs; second and much more importantly, you could record onto them! That means that for the first time, people could record their own tapes like with the same technology used by the professionals. But that is not to say that the audio tape is dead.
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