Audio Cassette recorders

Well one industry is prisons. The inmates in the prisons who are allowed to have such things still use them. I am curious however why don't you transfer them to CD's or some digital format? Keep in mind that cassettes are very fragel and will most likely will start to lose their fuctionability after about 10 years or sooner of not kept in a very secure place. I know mine has.
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/07/21/cassettes-still-a-mu.html

 

The lasting quality of tapes is very iffy. We had a large music library and I started converting them to mp3 about five years ago and I'd guess we had about 35 percent failure rate. We hadn't used them in a number of years. Ours were around 20 years old.

What normally happened was that the leader (blank tape that is attached to the real tape) would come off. I was able to splice many of ours as the mechanics were good in all of them.

I haven't seen a tape splicer in way too many years, ebay/Amazon might have them if you run into troubles.

I highly recommend you start getting them on your computer and backed up if you really want them.

I did some family video tapes about a year ago and they were in better shape, but they have the same problem and are more susceptible to mechanical failure.

If you have a sound input on the computer you can just plug your recorder in and run it and use software to record on the computer. For video you need a video and audio input. This can be done by a usb tv, tv card or some sort of usb video device.

 

There will probably be a tape player around for some time, but as has been said already, the life of the tapes is not long. In fact, the same can be said for CD and DVD media. Safest storage is backed up in multiple places online and/or on a jump drive.

You can do that yourself by getting a sound card for the PC that allows you to play your tapes into the machine and rip the audio into digital format. Once it is 1s and 0s it can last forever.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6450_7-5020866-1.html

http://www.amazon.com/mn/search/?re...words=cassette to mp3&sprefix=cassette t&rd=1

 

Just ran across this, have seen others about the same price.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005DF2QMC/?tag=baptis04-20

 

Have never seen a micro adapter but with a sound input you could just plug yours in and play/record on the pc.

There is also a tape unit that fits in a 5 inch slot on a tower if you have a big computer.

Working on a mac? You'd have to snoop the manufacturer site but I'd guess it might.

 

If your micro-cassette player has an "audio out" jack, you can use a male-to-male cable (on cassette player, plugged into "audio out"; on your computer, plugged into "microphone" or "line in"). Then use a free program like Audacity to record whatever you play. Only problem being, it records at the speed of the player; and it'll take a lot of hard drive space for the initial recording (then you save it as an MP3).

As for the longevity of cassette tapes, consider this: Go to Wal-mart, and K-Mart, and Best Buy, or someplace else where you buy electronics, and look for both the players and the blank cassettes. Availability will determine how much longer you have. Consider it a "total cost of ownership" formula, like you have for cars: At what point do the parts cost as much as or more than replacement?

As for the tapes themselves: Good quality tapes will last a long time. But there's always the chance the player will "eat" the tapes; or the environment where they're being stored will start affecting them (i.e., drying of the tapes will make them brittle); or a number of other factors that make backing up your tapes a good idea.

 

"Are you guys sure about the fact that tapes dont last that long?"

My first post was based on real experience of mid to cheaper tapes. I'd guess I had 75 or so.

Radio Shack might carry tapes, haven't been in one for several years. Also call your local electronic parts store, they might have them.