Digital Home Thoughts: So Long and Thanks for all the Mixtapes!

"When I was a youngster, albums were most often heard in order. 8-track tapes were the only technology that could jump from channel to channel; LPs and cassette tapes were strictly sequential-listening affairs. But one electronic device made the cassette tape a must-have for any young music fan. It was the Sony Walkman, and today we gather to memorialize its passing as Sony has decided to cease sales of the cassette player in the land of its birth, Japan."

Fear not! The Sony Walkman is not completely dead! It will still be produced in China but it seems as if its birthplace has turned up its nose for all things old. Sure, some might say that the Walkman was the beginning of using devices to isolate ourselves from personal interaction. Why say hello to those that you walk by when you can be jamming to some tunes? For me, the Walkman was just a part of a different revolution for me; the cassette tape. I think the cassette tape represents one of the more significant points in music history, right alongside the birth of the mp3 and the Internet. Instead of LPs or 8-track tapes, you had a relatively cheap way to not only listen to music, but record and mix music. It was the birth of the mix-tape! Instead of being limited to what was playing, you could, after many hours of careful tape-2-tape recording, come up with your own music mix that suited your tastes. It was one of the starting points where consumers could take control of what they heard. It become a form of self-expression. Whether it was a mix-tape you brought to a party, or something you made up for that special someone, music became personal.