Personics: The cassette-based iTunes Store of the 1980s [video] • Hacker News Board

Re: Personics: The cassette-based iTunes Store of the 1980s [video]

#11

Post by mongol » Sun, Dec 31, 2023, 7:52 AM UTC

neilv wrote: post #8

Three other things from the 1980s were why so many stereos sold to teens had two cassette decks: 1. Copying album tapes from friends. 2. Make a mix tape for someone, curated from many albums. Especially for a romantic interest. I don't know whether there's a modern analogue of this, but it could be meaningful. 3. Record the radio, and assemble songs you like onto a low-audio-quality tape for yourself. (It was a bit d…

> Make a mix tape for someone, curated from many albums. Especially for a romantic interest. I don't know whether there's a modern analogue of this, but it could be meaningful.

Good question. A Spotify playlist is not the same thing. It should be tangible.

Re: Personics: The cassette-based iTunes Store of the 1980s [video]

#12

Post by 1-6 » Sun, Dec 31, 2023, 8:15 AM UTC

Great post. I think most who followed the link to YouTube forgot to come back here to leave a comment.

Re: Personics: The cassette-based iTunes Store of the 1980s [video]

#13

Post by justsomehnguy » Sun, Dec 31, 2023, 8:16 AM UTC

Great video.

> Pay $15 for a 15 track CD than $1 for the on good song on it that you really wanted

No surprise a capitalist company with a history of abusing the authors wants your' $15 instead of $1. They spent way less than $1 producing and shipping a CD and received $14+ from each, why they would bother with receiving only less than $1 (while spending $0)?

Re: Personics: The cassette-based iTunes Store of the 1980s [video]

#14

Post by Animats » Sun, Dec 31, 2023, 9:17 AM UTC

Next, look into how Steve Jobs overcame that problem for iTunes.

It helped that Jobs was nominally the CEO of Pixar. He was thus a Studio Head, which meant he outranked everybody in the music industry, or at least the Hollywood part of it.

Re: Personics: The cassette-based iTunes Store of the 1980s [video]

#15

Post by coverband » Sun, Dec 31, 2023, 9:18 AM UTC

This was a really good story and reminded me of my younger days in the '80s when my cassette deck and Walkman were in constant use. Thanks for sharing...

Re: Personics: The cassette-based iTunes Store of the 1980s [video]

#16

Post by andyjohnson0 » Sun, Dec 31, 2023, 11:23 AM UTC

mongol wrote: post #11

neilv wrote: post #8

Three other things from the 1980s were why so many stereos sold to teens had two cassette decks: 1. Copying album tapes from friends. 2. Make a mix tape for someone, curated from many albums. Especially for a romantic interest. I don't know whether there's a modern analogue of this, but it could be meaningful. 3. Record the radio, and assemble songs you like onto a low-audio-quality tape for yourself. (It was a bit d…

> Make a mix tape for someone, curated from many albums. Especially for a romantic interest. I don't know whether there's a modern analogue of this, but it could be meaningful. Good question. A Spotify playlist is not the same thing. It should be tangible.

A couple of years ago I burned a mix cd for someone special to me. I hand-wrote a track list and made an envelope to package it. It seemed to be appreciated.

Although: I knew that the recipient had cd player in their car and home. Not sure this would work for younger demographics.

Re: Personics: The cassette-based iTunes Store of the 1980s [video]

#17

Post by dghughes » Sun, Dec 31, 2023, 1:46 PM UTC

neilv wrote: post #8

Three other things from the 1980s were why so many stereos sold to teens had two cassette decks: 1. Copying album tapes from friends. 2. Make a mix tape for someone, curated from many albums. Especially for a romantic interest. I don't know whether there's a modern analogue of this, but it could be meaningful. 3. Record the radio, and assemble songs you like onto a low-audio-quality tape for yourself. (It was a bit d…

>3. Record the radio, and assemble songs you like onto a low-audio-quality tape for yourself.

That was the most common thing to do. There were so many Top 40 or Top 100 radio shows you could always record off the air if your tape deck could do it. American Top 40 created and hosted by Casey Kasem (then Shadoe Stevens) it aired on Sundays I believe because I remember sitting on the deck at home listening to the show.