A brief history of cassette tapes
Cassette tapes are a medium of audio recording and playback which use magnetic tape to encode analogue signals. They were originally designed to record dictation, although over time became a popular medium for music.
Cassette tapes were designed in the 1960s and were very popular until the 1990s when Compact Discs (CDs) became the most popular medium for music.
Cassette tapes are played on tape players, which often include recording facilities. Portable tape players became popular during the 1980s.
Cassette tapes and audio reading by blind and partially sighted people
Cassette tapes have been used by blind and partially sighted people for audio reading for many years. As the tape is contained in a plastic shell, cassette tapes are fairly robust and can be easily sent through the post. They can also be recorded over many times making them a cheap way to provide audio materials.
Benefits of cassette tapes
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Familiarity: having been around for over 40 years, many people are familiar with cassette tapes and how to use them
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Ease of recording: tapes can be used to record information at the push of a button, and can be re-used for recording many times
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Navigation: some people like the manual nature of tapes, that you can wind them forwards and backwards to find what you are looking for. Also, when you stop a tape, it stays in the same place you left it, ready to start to play again.
Disadvantages of cassette tapes
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Scarcity: as digital technology and delivery mechanisms develop, tapes are becoming less popular. This means they are more difficult to find, and equipment to play and record onto them is becoming scarce
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Capacity: tape capacity is measured in minutes of playing time. Common tape varieties were 46, 60, 90 and 120 minutes, which don't compare favourably with more modern electronic formats. For reading audio books, most books would run to many tapes
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Sound quality: digital audio formats provide better sound quality than analogue recording, and the sound does not wear out over time
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Navigation: cassette tapes provide continuous recording for the length of that side of the tape. This means users have to wind the tape forward or back to find a particular section, which can be hit and miss