The "eject button" has been pushed for cassettes, the Telegraph somewhat drolly reports following the news that the electrical chain Currys is no longer to sell audio tapes. Will anyone miss them?
Those childhood delights of trying to fix the little blighters by spooling slack tape with a pencil will soon be a thing of the past. New generations will not have to contend with running out of batteries as you rewind to the beginning because you only like one side of the album. Indeed the concept of two distinct sides to an album is fading.
Disappearing cassettes - from 83m UK sales in 1989 to 500,000 in 2005 - and tape players are only a small part of the trend which long ago knocked vinyl from top dog slot and has seen many other formats, like video cassettes, disappearing from the high street. Some, like Currys' parent company DSG International, have gone further and withdrawn the shops themselves.
Cassettes were a lot more practical than vinyl, particularly on the move, and opened up a world of recording potential. But they never became something to cherish or inspired great album covers.
