The Small Cassette Tape
Published by simon on July 29, 2006The other day my wife went to MV Doulos and came back with a couple of cassettes of children’s songs. “Three bucks only!!! So CHEAP!” (I’m assuming ‘three bucks’ here infers to RM3, not USD$3…)
Since it was SO CHEAP she even bought a few extra copies to be given to our friends who were expecting mothers. When PN got one, she said she didn’t have a cassette tape player. Except in her car, but as you all know, the 32nd law of Malaysian weather states clearly that:
“Don’t ever leave your cassettes in the car under the Malaysian sun or the tape inside will become like Maggi Mee and you can toss it in the rubbish bin. However, please confer law #33.”
Law #33 states:
“Nobody buys or listens to cassettes anymore, lah. Fix an MP3 player or CD changer in the car, lah. Now very cheap ma.”
(Making an extra copy of the tape to specially put in her car is too much hassle. She’d rather listen to her Discman or iPod. “Walkman”? What’s that?!)
Cassette tapes are hopeless, even though there are still billions of them in existence as we speak. Even in the 80’s when it was the primary medium of music, before the advent of the almighty CD, everyone went on and on about vinyl and how great and ‘authentic‘ it was. But not everyone had a gramophone or a turntable, so we all bought cassette tapes. When I started buying them, it cost RM9 each. Then it went up to RM10.50, then RM11.50. Now they probably cost RM3 for five.
Anyway, back in the old house, my mom and dad had drawers and drawers of cassettes (not to mention 8-track tapes and vinyls), my brother and I have even more.
Thank God for the guy who invented the CD.
Boys and girls, tomorrow’s lesson – the VHS Videotape: How it All Went Wrong (Optional credit – “History of Betamax”).
Technorati Tags: cassette tape, CD, discman, iPod, vinyl, Walkman, VHS, betamax, mp3, bittorent, Doulos


