But a full resurgence is impossible because weve lost the skills to mass-produce them all.
Tascam just announcedit will start making cassettes again, for use in its iconic Portastudios.
This led to some speculation that Tascam might also make a new line of cassette-based Portastudios.
Jace & Afsoon / Unsplash
Supply Chain
To understand the problem, imagine trying to build a computer from scratch.
When Apple or Dell wants some RAM for their latest laptop, they order it from a RAM manufacturer.
This is the same in any tech market.
Tascam
A complex series of interlocking parts needs to come together to make anything.
Tascam
Now, with cassette players, the important part is the recording/playback head.
Theyre still producedyou can buy a cheap tape deck today on Amazonbut the innovation ended years ago.
The available units are all low-end models.
And even Tascams new tapes resort to 3D printing for some of the components.
The Vinyl Paradox
Even when the technology is still available, old media relies on consumables.
Record players are still being made, with new, high-end models appearing regularly enough.
The problem here is making the records, the vinyl itself.
Only afew factories around the world can make them, whereas it used to be just another supply industry.
… estimates are that even small-batch vinyl runs can take six months to a year of lead time.
At the same time, we have global supply chains being disrupted.
Kodak and other photographic material manufacturers have increased prices of film several times in the last couple of years.
“Prior to this event most of the High-Definition tapes produced by Sony were based in Fukushima, Japan.
The Danger of Success
Even this level of precarity can work.
The buyers of vinyl, cassettes, and camera film are almost all enthusiasts.
Were not in it for the low prices or the convenience.
A raise in cost or a drought is acceptable, if annoying.
But theres another danger, as illustrated by the paradox of vinyl.
It might seem like pressing a record is the simplest thing.
Its just a plastic disk, after all.
There are tales of packages arrivingpacked with carwash and cough syrup, instead of CDs and records.
Hope
Theres some hope, however.
In many ways, its better that such retro media remains a strong niche, rather than going mainstream.
