Last month, we had touched on vintage cassette tape inserts and how awesome the designs are. Perhaps it’s the nostalgia of growing up in the era of analog sounds, or that everything old is back in fashion, but the aesthetic of cassette tapes still have profound desire and influence in modern society. This post pays homage to the cassette tape, and the unique ways that we’ve tried to preserve it by bridging the gap between digital and analog. Here are some of my favorite mods and hybrids:
NVDRS Tape by Stefano Pertegato
I’d like to describe the NVDRS Tape, but the images already speak for themselves:
Slide the music to start listening
USB key provides connectivity with almost every computer
Case to protect the player and customize it
Listen to what the image says. Put the finger in the hole...
Apparently the finger goes in the other hole. To charge it, of course. How much fingering equates to a full charge?
via yankodesign
RetroPod iPod case
The RetroPod, a handmade iPod case made from an old Sony Sports Walkman, was among the first hybrids released that eventually got shut down by Sony.
RetroPod front shot
RetroPod interior
Mixtape Memory Stick
A memory stick disguised as a vintage mix-tape
I enjoyed what ThinkGeek had to say about this product:
The Mixtape is a fine art that is threatened by the loss of the medium. Two channel analog magnetic tape is disappearing in favor of MP3 files. A mixtape is a snapshot of your musical and social tastes during the brief period in which you created it. That summer in 1992, maybe your mixtape was full of Stone Temple Pilots, Morrissey, Toad The Wet Sprocket, The Cure, and audio-clips from Blade Runner. You gave that tape to your girlfriend. She dumped you, but not because of that mixtape. That was awesome!
Nobody makes mixtapes anymore. Analog audiotapes just aren’t passed around anymore. It’s a shame, really. Yes, the medium sucks, but the concept and the thought and the ART needs to find a way to live on.
For those cats in the UK, you can purchase a similar item from SUCK UK, one of my favorite shops.
Fi-Hi Mix’d Tape (512MB) USB Flash Drive
Fi-Hi Mix'd Tape
Like the Mixtape Memory Stick above, but the actual USB in the Fi-Hi Mix’d Tape is built right into the cassette body. For me, this would be particularly troublesome since my USB hubs have sparse surrounding space. Seems more handy for laptop users.
Retro iPod case
From afar, it looks like a regular retro walkman.
Opens to reveal an iPod. Sweet.
via gadget venue
ChinaVision Cassette MP3 Player
ChinaVision makes a really cool product simply called the Cassette MP3 Player. Not only can you load in mp3s via memory card and listen to it from the cassette itself, but the cassette will also work in a traditional cassette tape player. This product could have been designed better, but I like the dual-purpose function of it.
ChinaVision Cassette MP3 Player
Tags: analog, cassette, mp3 player, retro, sony, tape, USB, vintage
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