[HN Gopher] The Cassette-Tape Revolution
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The Cassette-Tape Revolution
Author : pseudolus
Score : 32 points
Date : 2023-11-19 19:44 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.newyorker.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.newyorker.com)
| 082349872349872 wrote:
| The NYT won't let me see TFA, so I hope it mentions that
| cassettes, via samizdat, also shook things up on the other side
| of the Iron Curtain.
| Full_Clark wrote:
| FWIW this publication is The New Yorker, not the New York
| Times, and the linked article didn't have any sort of paywall
| or preview feature when I clicked through.
|
| I don't think trying again will bring you any joy, though,
| since none of the words samizdat, iron, curtain, soviet, nor
| USSR appear in the text.
| 082349872349872 wrote:
| Thanks, my bad. I'm still paywalled, so I went to
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassette_tape#Cassette_culture
| where TIL tapes also played a role in the 1979 Iranian
| Revolution.
| dylan604 wrote:
| The fax machine also played a role in bringing down the
| Iron Curtain
| jay_kyburz wrote:
| I was thinking the other week, I wouldn't mind having a nice
| physical copy of a lot of my data. There was something "human"
| about flipping through my CD collection looking for something to
| put on. Or browsing the bookshelf, looking for a book to read.
|
| I think it needs to be bigger than Micro SD, more surface area
| for art than a thumb drive, but a CD is too big I think.
|
| A game boy cartridge would be a good size I think, or perhaps a
| credit card.
|
| I would love a box of credit card size memory sticks. I could
| could flip through them, share one with a friend, carry them
| around. More physical that just moving files on and off my phone.
|
| One card for each band perhaps, or each author. All of Tools
| albums, or the collected works for G.R.R. Martin.
|
| It would be nice if you could just place the card on you phone
| and the phone just reads the data and plays the music. Or rest it
| on your laptop and browse it like it was a drive.
|
| It would never take off, but nice to dream about.
| dools wrote:
| There is still a pretty thriving mini disc community
| dfex wrote:
| I think the Minidisc[1] is what you're after - 68mmx72mm (2.7in
| x 2.8in), 80 minutes of audio/~300MB of data.
|
| I'm always confused by my desire for slightly inconvenient
| physical formats like this to make a comeback - I suspect it's
| some combination of 90s nostalgia (I'm mid-40s) and a
| psychological reaction to the enshitification of culture now
| being an endless subscription service.
|
| [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MiniDisc
| mackrevinack wrote:
| the good thing about miniDisc is that its relatively easy to
| get the tracks back off it again. like if you wanted to share
| a disc with a friend, they could copy the tracks onto their
| computer using webminidisc or some other software. all the
| software is a bit old and janky but it's quicker than having
| to copy a tape!
| jay_kyburz wrote:
| It's the right size for sure, but you can buy 32GB of Micro
| SD for about $10. And and an SD card reader is a lot easier
| to find. The are just a little too small. :)
|
| It's not just nostalgia. I think when you start looking for
| them there are a lot of good reasons to start doing this.
|
| Physical backups, privacy of not having so much life online,
| less subscriptions required (dropbox), easier sharing without
| gate keepers.
|
| SanDisk should make something. A credit card with a few small
| raised bumps for the connection so you can just rest it on a
| surface rather than having to plug it in. Then a simple
| little USB reader that is just a flat surface you can place
| on your desk.
| dist-epoch wrote:
| > It would be nice if you could just place the card on you
| phone and the phone just reads the data and plays the music
|
| With NFC you could embed a unique ID into the card and the
| phone accesses that data from it's own storage or from your
| online drive. I know it's cheating, but it's doable today.
| neonate wrote:
| https://web.archive.org/web/20231119211253/https://www.newyo...
|
| https://archive.ph/ADJAW
| madengr wrote:
| Watch there now be a cassette renaissance like there was a record
| renaissance, despite the cassette having horrible audio quality
| compared to a CD.
| spking wrote:
| Within seconds of loading the page, a giant toast taking up half
| the bottom of the screen, and a separate modal overlay with some
| other message to subscribe pop up and completely obscure the
| article. And that's with ad blocking.
|
| https://deathtobullshit.com/ more relevant than ever.
| prmoustache wrote:
| Usage of thi addon is becoming the only way to browse the web
| correctly: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-
| US/firefox/addon/activate-read...
| dist-epoch wrote:
| Rose colored glasses history and all that, but goddam, were
| cassettes awful, even when brand new.
| kevin_thibedeau wrote:
| > the cassette "puts a smudgy fingerprint on everything it
| touches," adding noise and hiss, the sound quality degrading with
| each playback.
|
| This applies equally to phonograph recordings. The only real
| virtue of LP vinyl is that it largely prohibits loudness war
| nonsense.
| lancesells wrote:
| 99% of the time I listen to music digitally but I buy LPs for
| the art and liner notes. My connection with the music I listen
| to is bigger when I see more of the art and design and read
| what went into making the album.
| dylan604 wrote:
| >The only real virtue of LP vinyl is
|
| I disagree. As a former DJ that played vinyl, it truly was a
| tactile experience. The loss of that with the switch to CDs and
| now digital media is truly something that's not appreciated.
| forinti wrote:
| Cassettes were perfect for 8 bit micros. They were a bit slow,
| but cheap and somewhat reliable.
|
| Ten year old me bought a metre of stereo cable and two male audio
| jacks so I could copy tapes using my dad's 3-in-1 and my tape
| player.
|
| You could get 7-minutes-a-side tapes that allowed one game on
| each side.
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