While searching for something else I came across this article https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/aug/30/cassette-store-day-music-tapes written back in 2013 it has far more facts and less ridicule than some more recent articles. The only thing I thought they missed was computer tapes. How many millions of those were sold or taped to magazines back in the 1980s and 90s ?
Great article that doesn't rip tapes but acknowledges how cool it was to be able to record on something that anyone else with a tape player could listen to.
It's very rare to see anyone talk about tapes in earnest nowadays rather than as some sort of 'do you remember this?' or somewhat mocking/dismissive opinion piece, Techmoan and Walkman Archive are some of the few guys who provide sensible discussions about the medium. Considering that a lot of press tapes get now comes from 'lo-fi' or 'vapourwave' musicians as a sort of 80's throwback I am always happy to see someone discuss their merits and flaws without a layer of ironic pervading their article.
It will take more than Michael to make cassette mainstream. Michael and i at the Munich High End Show. You can’t see it properly, but i am wearing my cassette T-Shirt.
Even though it's a typical "list of 10 X" kind of article (and there's plenty of these these days, "easy read" probably), it actually had proper text in between images/numbers and, as stated before, it tried to have a take at the topic in a reasonable way! Nice find! It's not just a rarity in its contents, but also in its presentation. Was a fun read! Also I need to check my mouse, scrolling is completely junk and it double-clicks from time to time... bothersome.
Interesting. I remember making tape copies for my wife and her sister to take with them to Poland visiting family in the late 70's. They would stuff their cases with denim, tapes and fashion mags, not pay for a thing the whole trip and come home with their cases stuffed with Polish sausages and other goodies that were in limited supply or impossible to get in the west.
