People of a certain vintage couldn’t help feel a twinge of sad nostalgia earlier this month with the news of the death of Lou Ottens, the inventor of the cassette.
In the very early 1960s, when working as an engineer on the new product development team at Phillips, the Dutch electronics manufacturer, Ottens had a mishap with an old-school, reel-to-reel machine that saw a bunch of tape uncontrollably unspool on the floor This caused him a great deal of irritation, prompting him to assign his people to come up with a better solution. He set out to build something much more user-friendly.
By 1962, working at the offices in Hasselt, Belgium, a goal was set: Could a reel-to-reel mechanism be shrunk to the size of a wooden block that could fit inside a shirt pocket? After another year’s work, the Compact Cassette — two tiny reels inside a plastic case — was unveiled at the Berlin Radio Show (the Funkausstellung) to great amazement.
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The audio quality wasn’t great. The tape was just 3.81 mm wide and moved at a glacial 1 7/8 inches per second, originally enough for 30 minutes of recording time per side. But since the vision was to use the new format for simple office dictation duties, that wasn’t a problem.
The cassette created much industrial jealousy, too. German manufacturers Grundig and Telefunken, as well as several Japanese electronics companies, were working on their own version of the cassette and adoption of Ottens’ invention wasn’t assured. It wasn’t until Phillips made a licensing deal with Sony in 1965 that the Compact Cassette became the de facto standard for the planet.
Pre-recorded cassettes first appeared in 1965 under the name “Music-Cassettes” with the release of 49 titles. Better tape formulations followed as ferric oxide gave way to chromium dioxide and then metal particles. By the 1970s, cassette machines were an essential part of any audio system both in the home and in the car.
Sales really took off in the 1980s after the introduction of the Sony Walkman and other portable music devices and for a brief time, the cassette was the best-selling pre-recorded music format. As late as the early 1990s, cassettes outsold the compact disc (another format that Ottens had a hand in inventing).
1:36 Artist uses tape cassettes for music experimentation
Artist uses tape cassettes for music experimentation – Mar 10, 2020
Over the decades, more than 100 billion cassettes entered the global marketplace, including billions of blanks that were turned into mixtapes. But with the rise of CDs, file-sharing, iTunes, digital music devices, and streaming, the need for the cassette disappeared.
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Good riddance, I say. Cassettes served their purpose in the era before digital. Now it’s time to get rid of the cursed things.
They jammed. Melted in the sun. The hinges on the cases broke if you looked at them funny. The transparent cases didn’t stay transparent, cracking, scratching, and clouding up. Even the best and more carefully recorded cassettes were plagued with hiss and relatively poor frequency response. Many pre-recorded cassettes sounded awful. The J-cards (what passed for artwork with pre-recorded tapes) often held zero liner notes. They fell into the footwells of cars and got kicked under seats. Glove compartments were littered with them.
Mixtapes had to be made in real-time, meaning that between selecting the music to record and committing it to tape, it took at least 90 minutes to make a 60-minute mixtape. And then there was the frustration of trying to fill up each side of the tape as much as possible so you didn’t have a bunch of silence right at the end. (I became something of a ninja master of gauging how much time was left on the side of a tape just by looking at it.)
Most of those who are nostalgic for cassettes weren’t around when we had no other choice when it came to making our music portable.
But for some reason, the cassette continues to be fetishized as something that needs to be preserved. There’s this weird nostalgia for a piece of technology that no longer serves any kind of useful purpose. They have zero reason to exist.
Yes, there have been reports of a boom in cassette sales, but don’t believe the hype. MCR/Nielsen Canada doesn’t even track sales of pre-recorded cassettes. Its weekly sales and streaming report follows CDs, digital albums, digital tracks, streaming, and vinyl LPs. Cassettes are lumped into a category called “other.” Of the 3.8 million pre-recorded pieces of plastic sold last year, cassettes were only a tiny fraction. Last week’s report shows that 1,787 “other” units sold year-to-date in the country — and that figure also includes music DVDs.
Yes, there’s Cassette Store Day (est. 2013) each fall, but its success is light years away from what Record Store Day has done to vinyl. Last year, there was an increase of 103 per cent in cassette sales in the U.K. which sounds great until you realize that brought the total number to about 100,000 units in a global recorded music industry that’s worth US$20 billion. Big deal.
But who are these people who insist cassettes are great? They can be broken down into several groups.
Luddite Hipsters: For this group, the inconvenience of cassettes in the digital era allegedly demonstrates how much more they love music than everyone else. “See what I’m willing to endure for an authentic music listening experience?” They go on about the care that goes into creating mixtapes, saying that they’re compiled with more of a human touch than another digital playlist. Fine. You go with that.
Curiosity: They’re being sold by artists as tchotchkes and collector’s items. How many of the pre-recorded cassettes are actually being played? How many people even have a working cassette machine around the house? And have you tried to buy a new one lately?
Emerging Nations: Cassettes can be rugged when it comes up to the heat and dust in some locales. As recently as 2019, I walked into a store in Bali that was loaded with pre-recorded cassettes for sale.
Japan: It may be the land of the electronic gadget, but walk into any small store and you’ll find packages of cassettes for sale. Parts of Japanese culture are very conservative and continue to hang on to the old ways. (Tip: Need a fax machine? Japan is your place.)
Prison Releases: Enough people are incarcerated in the U.S. — about two million as of 2020 — for convicts to be a viable music market. CDs are forbidden in jails because they can be turned into shivs. MP3 players are allowed but without internet access, they’re useless. Vinyl? Hardly. The only remaining option is the lowly cassette. Companies like Fortress Audio and Duplication.ca offer blank cassettes made with clear shells (to prevent smuggling) and without any screws (to reduce weaponization) specifically for prison use.
Chart competition: Want to boost your position on the music charts? Offer your new album in an extra format. Your hardcore fans will stream the record, buy the vinyl, pick up the CD, and grab the cassette. If your fanbase is rabid enough, cassette sales could account for another 1,000 to 10,000 sales, enough to make a difference in your chart position.
If cassettes are your thing, please enjoy.
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But as for those of us who care about true portability, high fidelity, and convenience, please keep your tape fetish to yourself.
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Alan Cross is a broadcaster with Q107 and 102.1 the Edge and a commentator for Global News.
The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government’s “wind up” demand Wednesday, saying it is meant to address “risks” related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.
“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he said in a statement.
The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.
However, it urged people to “adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply.”
Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.
A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.
“We will challenge this order in court,” the spokesperson said.
“The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”
The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.
At the time, it said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the establishment of a new Canadian entity. It declined to provide any further details about what expansion it was reviewing.
A government database showed a notification of new business from TikTok in June 2023. It said Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Toronto and Vancouver would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”
Even before the review, ByteDance and TikTok were lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.
Such concerns led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill in March designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.
Champagne’s office has maintained Canada’s review was not related to the U.S. bill, which has yet to pass.
Canada’s review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to might harm national security.
While cabinet can make investors sell parts of the business or shares, Champagne has said the act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.
Wednesday’s dissolution order was made in accordance with the act.
The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 following the launch of an investigation into the company by federal and provincial privacy commissioners.
— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?
It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.
Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:
Apple
The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.
For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.
You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.
Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.
Google
Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.
When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.
You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.
There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.
Facebook and Instagram
Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.
When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.
The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.
You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.
TikTok
The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.
Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.
X
It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.
Passwords
Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?
Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.
But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.
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Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.
The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.
The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.
“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”
San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.
Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”
“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.
The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.
