Tag Archives: gadgetry

Tape2PC: Reprise

People still have tapes. Plenty of them. There must be a million idling away in someone’s drawer somewhere. And one day, those people will want to listen to them again and/or drag their contents into the 21st century. And for those people there are new products. Two companies are vying for your dollars. Continue reading

Posted in Technology | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Tape2PC: Reprise

Recordable media and disposable data

Having just completed the first item on my list of “things to do” for the year, it occurred to me that “mixtapes” are something of a dying artform. At least, in physical form. No, seriously: when last have you made a compilation of your favourite songs and burnt those to a CD-R as a proper Red Book Audio CD? Continue reading

Posted in Media | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Recordable media and disposable data

(Re)discovering MiniDisc

As is evident by the excellent condition of my new/old MD recorder, the previous owner was certainly a fan of the MiniDisc format, and I can almost understand why. This particular unit was released/manufactured in 1997, at a time when CDs had firmly established themselves as the de-facto standard for pre-recorded music and consumers were getting tired of the old analogue cassette. Sadly, I think it was a combination of several factors that lead to the downfall of the MD. Continue reading

Posted in Technology | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

The Cassette Projects

This was my tape collection. Lovingly nurtured and cared for over a period of some twenty years and surviving two intercontinental and numerous domestic moves, the time has come to bid farewell to this past passion and hobby, too. Continue reading

Posted in Cassette | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The Cassette Projects

R.I.P. V.H.S.

The BetaMax vs. VHS (Video Home System) format (war) notwithstanding, just about any civilised household in the modern world had (or still has) a VCR. Dropping costs and the superior quality of DVD (and its own successors, complete with a new format war) have, in recent years, all but caused the demise of the VHS format, and it is almost with a tear in my eye that I, too finally bid farewell to my own old VHS collection. Continue reading

Posted in Media | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on R.I.P. V.H.S.

No more getting lost

Germany is a country where one can get very lost in. In fact, I’ve already managed to get lost by missing a turn on the daily commute home from work! Now that I’ve got some sort of idea of how to solve the “sound problem”, I decided to take the next step and invest in a decent navigation system. Continue reading

Posted in Technology | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on No more getting lost

Sound Decisions

The decision that needs to be made now is whether to modify and transplant it into the Bora, or scrap it and simply design a new system from scratch… or a combination of the two. Continue reading

Posted in Technology | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Sound Decisions

Ghosts from the past

On Wednesday, the 14th of June something very special happened: I was greeted by the warm and eager “hum” of a car audio system that had re-awakened from a five-year slumber and was rearing to be let loose again. Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Ghosts from the past