Seattle - December 27, 2006

Best of 2006: Be Kind, Rewind

Plusdeck 2 Cassette Deck for Computers

It’s that time again — when we prepare to ring in the new by celebrating the best of the past year. So this week, we give you some of our favorite stories from 2006.

Originally published in Everywhere on 3/6/06

Okay, class, in today’s history lesson, we’ll be learning about primitive forms of technology. You see, before MP3 players or iPods, and even before CDs, back in the ’80s and ’90s, people listened to music on devices called cassette tapes.

And thanks to the Plusdeck 2, a cassette deck for computers, we can bring it back to life. All we do is slide the internal drive into the CD drive bay, pop in this plastic rectangle known as the cassette, and we can listen to the tape (that’s street for cassette) through our computer. Any questions?

Why would you need it if no one uses cassettes anymore?

Some people do, in fact. Especially for recording lectures and interviews. Or, in the olden days, a popular courting ritual was creating “mix tapes” for the object of your affection. Now, we can even convert the tracks off of, oh say, Helen’s Pet Shop Boys mix into modern digital files to be transferred onto CDs, DVDs, or MP3 players. Any questions?

Yeah. Who the hell are the Pet Shop Boys?

Available online at thinkgeek.com.