Yet another commercial cassette tape, a copy of the sleeve for David Bowie's Low (1977). It -- the format not the content -- is now an obsolete artifact. The little symbol just behind Bowie is for "Dolby sound." The full throttle transition to CDs came in the 1990s, when sales began dropping from hundreds of millions of individual tapes sold annually to a tiny fraction, in the thousands, by 2010, a collapse as dramatic as that of the American Bison in the 1880s. The Sony Walkman for cassettes is now on the verge of extinction, too. It was fun while it lasted. However, vinyl records are cooler, and remain in limited production. It's worth noting the American Bison has made a slight comeback in the past century.
Today's Rune: Movement.
4 comments:
I remember always being careful to keep case and cassette paired, and the liner folded properly. Now I obsess over digital album art to coincide with my mp3s.
There was a time in the 80's when I was all about the cassette format. What a fool I was. Should have bought more vinyl, and should have held on to what I had (including some nice first pressings of punk and indie metal and alternative rock releases). Now CDs are going the way of the cassette, while vinyl has been resurrected as the medium of choice for collectors. Who would have guessed?
As long as it plays i will listen to it. Formats are going to be ever evolving and in another 20 years they won't let them press new Vinyl because it takes oil out of the stream.
Intersting comparison between cassettes and the bison. Lol.
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