The cassette tape: A trip down memory lane

 

Songs Retiring Guy has yet to add to his Spotify library.  

NPR, 3/10/2021

The cassette tape was Ottens' answer to the large reel-to-reel tapes that provided high-quality sound but were seen as too clunky and expensive. He took on the challenge of shrinking tape technology in the early 1960s, when he became the head of new product development in Hasselt, Belgium, for the Dutch-based Philips technology company. 

"Lou wanted music to be portable and accessible," says documentary filmmaker Zack Taylor, who spent days with Ottens for his film Cassette: A Documentary Mixtape. 

Ottens' goal was to make something simple and affordable for anyone to use. As Taylor says, "He advocated for Philips to license this new format to other manufacturers for free, paving the way for cassettes to become a worldwide standard."

The cassette tape briefly enjoyed a place in the sun during the latter half of the 1980s.

Its major downside.

Related reading:
Sony Walkman, 1979-2010.  (10/24/2010)
Goodbye to Cassette Tapes @ the Madison Public Library.  (9/15/2011)