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Check the Ampex list archives, Richard. I once linked to the article which documented the first year CD's outsold cassettes. I think it was early 1990's. The format seemed to die off rapidly after that. I think the CD's out-selling cassettes coincided with widely-available and cheap CD walkmans and the switchover to CD players being standard in most cars. I agree with the other guys that cassette is not yet a dead format, but it's really close. Audiobooks went entirely to CD, CDR and digital download several years ago. But I think there are still large-scale duping operations and millions of cassettes sold in some 3rd world markets. The way I remember it, the Walkman was introduced 1979 or so (I had an original first-edition-in-USA Sony Walkman and it was about the coolest thing a 13-year-old gadget geek could want). By the very early 80's, Walkmans and Walkman-wannabes were cheap and massively available. If I recall correctly, cassettes out-sold LPs by the mid-80's (I also found a date an source and posted to the Ampex list a few years back), but it might have been the late-80's. Can you believe there was a period of years when crapola-junk-sound duped cassettes were the main consumer-release format in the USA? -- Tom Fine ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard L. Hess" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, December 30, 2009 4:59 PM Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Media Timeline - Historical Assistance Please > Thanks, everyone, for the comments on- and off-list...and Happy New Year! > > Hello, Jack, > > Let's look at the cassette dates. > 1963 is well-documented > 1970 is somewhat arbitrary and based on personal recollection > 1978 as Dominant is based on the introduction of the Nakamichi 1000 plus one year > and one year before the introduction of the Walkman (which also supported > the format) -- so it was splitting the difference between 1977 and 1979 > 1993 as the beginning of the decline was the year that the > Nakamichi Dragon was discontinued (1982-1993) and the year the CR7 > was discontinued (1986-1993), although the peak year for portable cassette > machine sales was 1994 with 18 million sold, but I suggest that the demise of > the high-end gear was more telling. > 2002 as the beginning of the niche market was the year Nakamichi stopped > making cassette decks. I recall being somewhat shocked between the late > 1980s and the late1990s when walking into a Circuit City looking for cassette > decks at the lack of choices available. Certainly, the cassette was no longer > important for music distribution -- which is the basis of this as opposed to > dictation. Audio books beg the issue, but... > 2008 was chosen as the "end" because of the NY Times article > "Say So Long to an Old Companion: Cassette Tapes" > By ANDREW ADAM NEWMAN, Published: July 28, 2008 > http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/28/business/media/28cassette.html > This article also says that in 2006, cassettes only accounted for 7% of all > sales in the $923 million audio book industry. > > Tascam is currently selling one cassette deck, and, sadly, it's not even their flagship > 122-series, long the mainstay of news/broadcast/recording studios and some transfer facilities. > Rather, it is the dual-well 202 MK V. At least both decks record on this one. This is a two-head > machine and does not offer any bias setting (as did a similar Kenwood deck I bought in the late > 1980s that made great tapes). > > Marantz no longer offers any cassette machines, and they were once the mainstay of event > recording. > > Sony sends you to retailers and doesn't even bother listing the products on their website. I > suspect that the retailers are cleaning out the distribution channels at this point. > > Anyway, I don't know how to pick the end date of a format with any precise accuracy as there are > always a few hangers-on. > > My goal here is to define widespread release of new entertainment content in the format and while > LPs are not widespread, I think we're seeing more entertainment in that format than in cassettes. > My major interest in this research project is music entertainment. > > I see Tim's point, too, but I don't know. Most duplicators and duplicator suppliers I've dealt > with have stopped stocking product and or shut down. > > I could keep it as a niche product, I guess. The NYT article, cited above, suggested that even the > then-diehard users thought they'd be out of cassettes by 2011. > > Thanks and Happy New Year! > > Cheers, > > Richard > > At 03:42 PM 2009-12-30, jack palmer wrote: >>I wonder about the cassette tape use. Many radio shows are still copied and sold in that format >>although MP3s are taking over a lot of it now. I would say it was still a niche use. At least >>for another year or so. Jack > >>>cassette Developed 1963 Major 1970 Dominant 1978 Decline 1993 Niche 2002 Ended 2008 >> >>Richard L. Hess email: [log in to unmask] >>Aurora, Ontario, Canada (905) 713 6733 1-877-TAPE-FIX >>Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm >>Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes. >