Are cassettes making a comeback? The Los Angeles Times seems to think so!
The article is correct about the fact hardly no one is selling cassette decks anymore.
I found that out by trying to dub a limited cassette-only release from the Static Caravan label to my computer. I put the cassette in the player and -- nothing. The deck had died! So I set forth on getting it repaired, but no one would.
So I looked for a new unit, and it had to have RCA jack outputs. Lots of "boom boxes" had a cassette player but no RCA jacks. Then I found an ION tape-to-tape deck, with RCA outs and, to my surprise, a USB out as well.
So I bought it and instantly dubbed the cassette to MP3. But, the thing is, I still have a lot of cassettes with songs that are only available on that format. Take the Heidi Berry song The Devil, only found on the 4AD Shaving The Pavement cassette from 1996. I now have a really good sounding MP3 of that. Not as good as a CD-sourced version of course, but certainly listenable.
There have been a few cassette-only releases by bands I like in the recent years too, so as silly as it seems, buying a new cassette deck isn't as strange as it sounds.
But - to be clear - I hate cassettes now. If I could get it on CD, I would. Same with vinyl. I have no use for it anymore. But CD? Yes, I want CDs. I'll take downloads as a last resort but CDs still are king at my house (and car).
