The Obsolete Cassette Tapes of Old
You know I’ve never dreamed there would come a day when I think about cassette tapes and render them obsolete. When you grow up using something and you take it for granted, somehow you think it will always be there till the end of time. The other day I was tidying up around the apartment when I came upon a collection of my old cassette tapes and my heart skipped a beat. Not only have I stopped using those tapes, I’ve forgotten all about them as well!
Back in the 80’s the modern way to play music was to use those tapes. I don’t think CD players were widely used until the early 90’s, perhaps the late 80’s but I’m not sure. What I do truly recall is using -and buying and recording- my songs on tape up till the late 90’s. I also vivdly remember my teenage summers in the UK, wandering the high street shops, listening to the latest music playing, then going to HMV to search for those songs as “singles” which were to the point and much cheaper than buying an entire album I didn’t want. I think I have two singles lefts in my collection: Viva forever by The Spice Girls and One for Sorrow by Steps.
I was, and frankly still am, crazy about the Spice Girls! I used to dress like them, all mismatched clothing and huge heeled funky platforms, they were simply awesome and unlike any other girls pop band out there! Back to reminiscing about cassette tapes though, I’m not entirely sad to see them go if I’m being honest for they were quite a pain! The strips of tape inside the plastic casing would sometimes spool out and the only way to put it back was by using a pen and turning it the right way, untangling the tape as you turn. If the tape snapped in two there is very little chance it would work again, you could reattach the ends of the tape with a silo tape it but it won’t work that well. The quality of the music wasn’t that good either -compared to CD’s- and skipping tracks wasn’t that accurate or easy either. Still, I feel fond of these cassettes, they are just lovely and familiar, meant a lot for us in the old days.
Ooh and may I add that the ultimate thoughtful gift back in the day was a mix tape? I have endless mix tapes from my friends of old, with heartfelt dedications written on them. What do kids give out these days? iTunes cards? Share music libraries? How much fun is that? There are no stickers involved!
The last tape I’ve ever bought? I think it was the Start Academy 2 in 2005. Its mind boggling, thinking that was almost 9 years ago when 2005 feels like it was here just yesterday! Where did the vanish into?
I wonder what other invention is going to become obsolete next! Look around you, anything that you are using now can cease to be useful in the next few years and one day you will wake up, open a drawer or a box, see that thing and be startled like I was when I came upon my old cassette tapes. Who would have thought? All those Kuwaiti dinars and sterling pounds spent on things that are now practically useless!
Do you remember using the cassette tapes or are you really so young you don’t remember doing so? How about the music? Do you know if there is something I can you do something about the music in these tapes? Can’t they be transferred to my iPod or something? There is a song somewhere in there that I’ve trying to Google for the last couple of hours but couldn’t find, I want to listen to it NOW!
