2011 RIP auto cassettes

http://www.dealerscope.com/aggregate...nt/classic-ad-
requiem-tape-deck?sponsor=newsletter/12-volt-tech&b=2010#
utm_source=12-volt-tech&utm_medium=enewsletter_continue&utm_campaign= 2011-02-10&utm_source=EmailDirect.com&utm_
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bob

bob urz > wrote in
:

> http://www.dealerscope.com/aggregate...nt/classic-ad-
> requiem-tape-deck?sponsor=newsletter/12-volt-tech&b=2010#
> utm_source=12-volt-tech&utm_medium=enewsletter_continue&utm_campaign= 20
> 11-02-10&utm_source=EmailDirect.com&utm_
> medium=Email&utm_campaign=12+Volt+Tech+February+10 + Campaign
>
> bob



Bleah.

Here, let me help by providing an UNbroken link:
<http://www.dealerscope.com/aggregatedcontent/classic-ad-requiem-tape-deck?sponsor=newsletter/12-volt-tech&b=2010#utm_source=12-volt-tech&utm_medium=enewsletter_continue&utm_campaign= 2011-02-10&utm_source=EmailDirect.com&utm_medium=Email&utm _campaign=12+Volt+Tech+February+10+Campaign>

I remember when they were called "Compact Cassettes". They were
actually contemporary competitors with 8-tracks in the '70s.
But 8-tracks were so awful that the Compact Cassette became
the standard.

--
Tegger

On 2/10/2011 12:34 PM, Tegger wrote:

:cassettes". They were
> actually contemporary competitors with 8-tracks in the '70s.
> But 8-tracks were so awful that the Compact Cassette became
> the standard.
>

As i remember, the early cassettes fidelity was not good and they were
more expensive. The 8track was not a terrible medium, but its endless
loop format caused reliability issues and the splice failing at the
metal foil end would put one out of commission. and issues with the
sliding tape heads alignment could cause crosstalk issues.

In the early 70's, 8tracks still ruled. There were even the ******* 4
channel quad 8track units for a short time for those who wanted the
short lived quadraphonic era. As i recall, my stereo in my 68 cuda
was a Craig S280 under-dash 8T pullout unit with dual 12" speakers in
the flip door under the rear glass. It was a hot setup for the time.
I think in those days you could have got a quad 8track in a Lincoln or
such and listened to Pink Floyd in quad if you had the bucks.


Cassettes eventually got better and cheaper and the rest is history.
eventually, CD's will go the same route.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_Cassette

bob

Tegger wrote:
>
> bob urz > wrote in
> :
>
> > http://www.dealerscope.com/aggregate...nt/classic-ad-
> > requiem-tape-deck?sponsor=newsletter/12-volt-tech&b=2010#
> > utm_source=12-volt-tech&utm_medium=enewsletter_continue&utm_campaign= 20
> > 11-02-10&utm_source=EmailDirect.com&utm_
> > medium=Email&utm_campaign=12+Volt+Tech+February+10 + Campaign
> >
> > bob
>
> Bleah.
>
> Here, let me help by providing an UNbroken link:
> <http://www.dealerscope.com/aggregatedcontent/classic-ad-requiem-tape-deck?sponsor=newsletter/12-volt-tech&b=2010#utm_source=12-volt-tech&utm_medium=enewsletter_continue&utm_campaign= 2011-02-10&utm_source=EmailDirect.com&utm_medium=Email&utm _campaign=12+Volt+Tech+February+10+Campaign>
>
> I remember when they were called "Compact Cassettes". They were
> actually contemporary competitors with 8-tracks in the '70s.
> But 8-tracks were so awful that the Compact Cassette became
> the standard.

CD and DVD aren't far behind. I'm not a big music guy, but all my MP3s
are on a 16GB thumb drive I plug into my trucks USB port. The nav/radio
has a hard drive and supports a jukebox function there, but I find no
reason to use it, the thumb drive is more convenient. DVD support on the
nav/radio is nice, but I think before long we will just be using MPEG4s
on the same thumb drives. An auto environment isn't real good for
optical media anyway, too difficult to avoid scratchs, smudges and dust.

On Feb 10, 11:59*am, "Pete C." > wrote:
> Tegger wrote:
>
> > bob urz > wrote in
> :
>
> > >http://www.dealerscope.com/aggregate...nt/classic-ad-
> > > requiem-tape-deck?sponsor=newsletter/12-volt-tech&b=2010#
> > > utm_source=12-volt-tech&utm_medium=enewsletter_continue&utm_campaign= 20
> > > 11-02-10&utm_source=EmailDirect.com&utm_
> > > medium=Email&utm_campaign=12+Volt+Tech+February+10 + Campaign
>
> > > bob
>
> > Bleah.
>
> > Here, let me help by providing an UNbroken link:
> > <http://www.dealerscope.com/aggregatedcontent/classic-ad-requiem-tape-....>
>
> > I remember when they were called "Compact Cassettes". They were
> > actually contemporary competitors with 8-tracks in the '70s.
> > But 8-tracks were so awful that the Compact Cassette became
> > the standard.
>
> CD and DVD aren't far behind. I'm not a big music guy, but all my MP3s
> are on a 16GB thumb drive I plug into my trucks USB port. The nav/radio
> has a hard drive and supports a jukebox function there, but I find no
> reason to use it, the thumb drive is more convenient. DVD support on the
> nav/radio is nice, but I think before long we will just be using MPEG4s
> on the same thumb drives. An auto environment isn't real good for
> optical media anyway, too difficult to avoid scratchs, smudges and dust.

Not to mention putting small precision machinery in an environment of
high vibration and wide temperature excursions. At this time I'm
reluctantly concluding that what was once a fairly high end Pioneer CD
receiver in my car has reduced to a nice AM/FM radio with a long
skinny ventilation aperture in front. There are things that just get
better as it becomes feasible and affordable to make them more and
more completely solid state.

I've still got the odd box of cassettes here and there, but haven't
played one in years and wouldn't swear that any of them have
survived. In fact, the only cassette I've seen in a while (weeks?
months?) was a smashed one at the recycling bins. It reminded me
of the days when you'd see disembowelled cassettes (and 8-track
cartridges) by the side of the road all the time because people tired
of putting up with a defective one would grab it by the tape and sling
it out the car window.

Cassette made a lot of sense in its day, especially inasmuch as it was
the first cheap, user-friendly, and technically decent *recording*
technology (dubbing vinyl records onto cassettes for use in the car
was among the common applications), but its day was a couple of
technological generations ago.

--Joe

In message >, Tegger
> writes
>I remember when they were called "Compact Cassettes". They were
>actually contemporary competitors with 8-tracks in the '70s.
>But 8-tracks were so awful that the Compact Cassette became
>the standard.
8-tracks just never caught on this side of the pond, though it's well
know that after the lubrication had worn off of the tape, if you didn't
get it out of the machine fast then you were in for a long bout of
unwinding tape from the capstan.
--
Clive

On 2/10/2011 2:51 PM, Clive wrote:
> In message >, Tegger
> > writes
>> I remember when they were called "Compact Cassettes". They were
>> actually contemporary competitors with 8-tracks in the '70s.
>> But 8-tracks were so awful that the Compact Cassette became
>> the standard.
> 8-tracks just never caught on this side of the pond, though it's well
> know that after the lubrication had worn off of the tape, if you didn't
> get it out of the machine fast then you were in for a long bout of
> unwinding tape from the capstan.

My favorite was the mechanical squealing noise that came from the cart
when this happened.

bob

bob urz > wrote in :

> On 2/10/2011 12:34 PM, Tegger wrote:
>
>:cassettes". They were
>> actually contemporary competitors with 8-tracks in the '70s.
>> But 8-tracks were so awful that the Compact Cassette became
>> the standard.
>>
>
> As i remember, the early cassettes fidelity was not good and they were
> more expensive. The 8track was not a terrible medium, but its endless
> loop format caused reliability issues and the splice failing at the
> metal foil end would put one out of commission. and issues with the
> sliding tape heads alignment could cause crosstalk issues.



That's what I meant by "awful".

Compact Cassettes were more reliable.


>
> In the early 70's, 8tracks still ruled. There were even the ******* 4
> channel quad 8track units for a short time for those who wanted the
> short lived quadraphonic era.



Ah, so that's what we had in the '70 Ford. Channel 3 disappeared withinn
weeks of installation.



> As i recall, my stereo in my 68 cuda
> was a Craig S280 under-dash 8T pullout unit with dual 12" speakers in
> the flip door under the rear glass. It was a hot setup for the time.
> I think in those days you could have got a quad 8track in a Lincoln or
> such and listened to Pink Floyd in quad if you had the bucks.
>
>
> Cassettes eventually got better and cheaper and the rest is history.
> eventually, CD's will go the same route.



That's /definitely/ the trend. Solid-state storage has plummetted in price;
it's the way things will go in the future.




--
Tegger

Ad absurdum per aspera > wrote in
:

> In fact, the only cassette I've seen in a while (weeks?
> months?) was a smashed one at the recycling bins. It reminded me
> of the days when you'd see disembowelled cassettes (and 8-track
> cartridges) by the side of the road all the time because people tired
> of putting up with a defective one would grab it by the tape and sling
> it out the car window.


What would happen... the player would grab the tape and refuse to let go.
When you ejected the cassette, the tape would remain wound around the
mechanism and you'd end up pulling several yards of tape out of the
cassette in your efforts at disengaging the cassette from the player (while
driving, yet; no laws against that...). The disembowelled cassette ended up
getting tossed out the window in frustration, the tape festooning the
roadside, and blowing in the wind.

--
Tegger

On 2/10/2011 8:58 AM, bob urz wrote:
> On 2/10/2011 12:34 PM, Tegger wrote:
>
> :cassettes". They were
>> actually contemporary competitors with 8-tracks in the '70s.
>> But 8-tracks were so awful that the Compact Cassette became
>> the standard.
>>
>
> As i remember, the early cassettes fidelity was not good and they were
> more expensive. The 8track was not a terrible medium, but its endless
> loop format caused reliability issues and the splice failing at the
> metal foil end would put one out of commission. and issues with the
> sliding tape heads alignment could cause crosstalk issues.
>
> In the early 70's, 8tracks still ruled. There were even the ******* 4
> channel quad 8track units for a short time for those who wanted the
> short lived quadraphonic era. As i recall, my stereo in my 68 cuda
> was a Craig S280 under-dash 8T pullout unit with dual 12" speakers in
> the flip door under the rear glass. It was a hot setup for the time.
> I think in those days you could have got a quad 8track in a Lincoln or
> such and listened to Pink Floyd in quad if you had the bucks.

An 8-Track would have been boss in my 67 Barracuda Coupe - as would be a
working radio. No matter, I enjoyed driving it anyway.

In this age of random access music, the young people probably wouldn't
be able to comprehend how music was laid out on an 8-track nor
appreciate how little space CD take up.

An 8-Track player came with the stereo system in my parent's house which
was purchased through the Columbia Record Club. Oddly enough, the only 2
tapes we had were Laura Nero and Andy Williams. They came with the
player and my guess is that the system was mostly a way to encourage
people to buy more records and 8-Track tapes from the club. As far as I
know, we never did buy any 8-Track tapes. I had some fun pushing the
buttons on the machine and marveling at how you could change music so
fast. A CD or MP3 player could probably be set up to act exactly like an
8-Track player although that would probably be a little nuts.

>
>
> Cassettes eventually got better and cheaper and the rest is history.
> eventually, CD's will go the same route.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_Cassette
>
> bob
>