The inventor of the cassette tape, Lou Ottens, has died. Ottens was a talented and influential engineer at Philips, where he also helped develop consumer compact discs.
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RIP. He changed the way we unwind and entertain ourselves.
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He also changed the way we rewind…
(someone had to).
May he rest in peace and his family find solace.
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Never heard of him but he sure changed my life decades ago.
RIP Sir, and thank you.
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Compact cassette time was a time I wouldn’t have wanted to miss.
TDK versus Maxell.
Thx Lou.
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Its a reel bummer when one’s life has played side A to the middle. Your life was flipped to B Side and there is no autoreverse to keep yourself playing on at least he played a full Album by his age.
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Lots of LPs got recorded to cassette for use in the car. Significant way to listen to music on the go all those years ago. Early car CD was not great with lots of skips over every bump. RIP.
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RIP. For many decades cassettes were the only easy option to vinyl (never as good tho). If you wanted to listen to music on the go…it was a cassette. Simpler times.
I haven’t seen any articles or comments mentioning that it was originally intended for dictation, not music.
And ya know, in a not highly detailed arena like car audio, the cassette wasn’t that bad…