The Cassette

         The audio cassette, also called the cassette tape, compact cassette, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally to be used for dictation machines, but improvements led the cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel tape recordings in most non-professional applications. Cassettes consist of two miniature spools, between which a magnetically coated plastic tape is passed and spooled. These parts are help inside a plastic shell. 

         In 1935, AEG released the first reel-to-reel tape recorder called the "Magnetophon". The name derived from the invention of magnet tape by Fritz Pfleumer in 1928. These devises did not start to catch on in the american household until the 1950's, being priced around $700-$1500. These models were very bulky. In the early 60's, prices and weights dropped when the classic vacuum tubes were replaced with transistors. In 1964, Sony released the first "compact cassette", which by the late 1970's had reached their apex, selling over 2.4 million players. 

         The cassette ruled supreme as lead music listing device into the late 80's. However interest started to wane, and by the late 90's the cassette industry had been all but destroyed by the new "compact disk", which never got tangled up in its own player. Cassettes are used today for practically nothing, save for pirating movies and gathering dust. 

No video, but if you want to watch some cassette-related videos, search "cassette tape" on YouTube

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