# Are tape recorders still used? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 10, 2015, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tape-recorders-still-used/722181 "2015-06-10T17:26:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tape-recorders-still-used/722181/21 "2015-06-11T04:26:18Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > I can imagine occasions where a tape could be preferred as evidence - vastly harder to mess with and edit the content in an undetectable manner. But that would be a stretch. That is exactly why they are used to record all formal police interviews in the UK. The machines record to two tapes simultaneously and, if charged, the suspect is given one copy and a written transcript. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tape-recorders-still-used/722181/22 "2015-06-11T04:53:15Z")
> [@ticker](#): > > That is exactly why they are used to record all formal police interviews in the UK. The machines record to two tapes simultaneously and, if charged, the suspect is given one copy and a written transcript. ↑ ↑ ↑ This… And Amazing amount of stuff get lost in the property room. … _snerk_ gus, drugs,cameras, bicycles… And how much gets put back in the wrong place. :eek: Cassette tapes are bad enough but SD card in envelops cause you can’t get nuff stuff written on the SD card and the detective checks out 3 different cases with 2-3 cards each and I bet none of them would ever get lost. The police are noted for the quality & safety of their property rooms. :smack: Yeah, Cassette tape is little enough… 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tape-recorders-still-used/722181/23 "2015-06-11T10:24:44Z")
> [@Lee\_Q](#): > > I’d guess many people who want to record just use their smartphone these days Of course, a LOT of people don’t have smartphones, even these days. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tape-recorders-still-used/722181/24 "2015-06-11T11:02:06Z")
Tape releases have been quite popular amongst obscure indie bands for at least the last five years. They’re cheap to produce and also offer something physical, which is considered better than trying to hawk MP3s via Bandcamp or whatever. Every tape release I have bought since 2008 has offered a download code though. I think they’re just nice objects people collect for the most part and then download the tunes. However, there is a not insignificant amount of older cars owned by students etc that have tape decks so maybe the tapes are getting played in cars as well. I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tape-recorders-still-used/722181/25 "2015-06-11T11:37:51Z")
Thing is, if your car has a tape deck (and as noted a lot do) and you want to listen to your CD/MP3’s/whatever in your car you might want to copy them to tape and then play those tapes. My car’s tape deck also has an adapter that allows you to hook up a CD player and play it through the deck, but extreme hot/cold conditions in a car can screw up your CDs. Screw up your tapes, too, but in that case it’s about having an expendable copy and keeping the original safe at home. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tape-recorders-still-used/722181/26 "2015-06-11T11:43:19Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Thing is, if your car has a tape deck (and as noted a lot do) and you want to listen to your CD/MP3’s/whatever in your car you might want to copy them to tape and then play those tapes. > > My car’s tape deck also has an adapter that allows you to hook up a CD player and play it through the deck, but extreme hot/cold conditions in a car can screw up your CDs. Screw up your tapes, too, but in that case it’s about having an expendable copy and keeping the original safe at home. Tape adapter for phone/mp3/laptop/CD player in my mother’s car doesn’t work properly because of some function of the tape. It plays for a bit then clicks off intermittently. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tape-recorders-still-used/722181/27 "2015-06-11T15:23:31Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Tape adapter for phone/mp3/laptop/CD player in my mother’s car doesn’t work properly because of some function of the tape. It plays for a bit then clicks off intermittently. Some players have a detector that indicates the supply reel isn’t moving and shut off thinking there’s a broken tape. Most adapters don’t turn the supply reel. Some do in order to avoid this problem. Get one of those and problem solved. ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tape-recorders-still-used/722181/28 "2015-06-11T16:21:14Z")
> [@Marion\_Wormer](#): > > Cassette players and recorders are still used by the blind. > > When I gave away my books on tape, an acquaintance’s grandfather was blind and still used the tape machine. This was a year or two ago This, although the player supplied is at a super-low speed to fit more on the tape. A blind family member had no trouble with changing cassettes, but struggled mightily with CDs. All it takes is one a-hole to put a CD in upside down in the case. It’s very hard to feel what side is up unless a library tags each part of a book on CD. Books on tape were a much better solution. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tape-recorders-still-used/722181/29 "2015-06-11T16:28:52Z")
Blank cassette tapes are still sold. i haven’t played one in years, but i imagine there is still a small market for them. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tape-recorders-still-used/722181/30 "2015-06-11T17:07:37Z")
Some older executives still use micro cassette setups because they are dead simple to use and they hand off the tape to their asst and the asst has a foot pedal transcriber. Yes digital would be better but it’s what they are used to and that counts of a lot in ease of use. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tape-recorders-still-used/722181/31 "2015-06-11T17:47:21Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Of course, a LOT of people don’t have smartphones, even these days. Even the cheapest dumbphones have an audio recorder these days. The free Lifeline wireless phones even come with one. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tape-recorders-still-used/722181/32 "2015-06-11T18:19:51Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Blank cassette tapes are still sold. i haven’t played one in years, but i imagine there is still a small market for them. I still have several boxes of top-quality “metal” cassette tapes. I have no idea what I’m saving them for. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tape-recorders-still-used/722181/33 "2015-06-11T18:31:49Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > What’s even worse is when the tape wound so tightly around the spool, it stopped moving at all. Then you had to cut the tape apart, unwind a few turns to get it loose again, then resplice it. Been there; done that! ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tape-recorders-still-used/722181/34 "2015-06-11T18:44:33Z")
All of this just reminds me of what a pack rat I am … ☹ ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tape-recorders-still-used/722181/35 "2015-06-11T19:15:15Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Of course, a LOT of people don’t have smartphones, even these days. If I were to suggest that one reason we don’t see a lot of people using horse-drawn carriages for transportation is that most people travel by car these days, would you remind me that many people don’t have cars? It’s utterly irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tape-recorders-still-used/722181/36 "2015-06-11T19:16:21Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Some older executives still use micro cassette setups because they are dead simple to use and they hand off the tape to their asst and the asst has a foot pedal transcriber. Yes digital would be better but it’s what they are used to and that counts of a lot in ease of use. That reminds me: I’ve seen a doctor and a former boss both record their notes on a small tape recorder (with the mini cassette) and then hand off the cassette to an assistant to write up the notes. In both cases, it was an old school recorder, as they would rewind the tape (creating that distinctive high pitched “wirring” noise) if they wanted to change their words. These were both just a few years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tape-recorders-still-used/722181/37 "2015-06-11T19:35:01Z")
> [@spinky](#): > > If I were to suggest that one reason we don’t see a lot of people using horse-drawn carriages for transportation is that most people travel by car these days, would you remind me that many people don’t have cars? It’s utterly irrelevant. Indeed, I haven’t seen a horse-drawn carriage in a while. But according to this [Gartner study](http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2944819), “_smartphones accounted for 66 percent of the total mobile phone market_” (in the third quarter of 2014). In other words, ⅓ of all phones still were feature phones. I would consider this relevant. ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tape-recorders-still-used/722181/38 "2015-06-11T20:58:01Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > Indeed, I haven’t seen a horse-drawn carriage in a while. But according to this [Gartner study](http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2944819), “_smartphones accounted for 66 percent of the total mobile phone market_” (in the third quarter of 2014). In other words, ⅓ of all phones still were feature phones. I would consider this relevant. Those numbers seem to support the notion that, as suggested, “many people” are usually carrying a device which obviates the need for a tape recorder. The fact that many people are not carrying such a device has zero bearing on this suggestion. If 2/3 of all humans had a digital audio recorder surgically implanted in their foreheads, “many people probably record using their forehead recorders these days” would be an excellent explanation for the decline of tape recorder use. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tape-recorders-still-used/722181/39 "2015-06-11T21:47:45Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > May I point out to the “tape sounds like crap” population that there are huge differences between cassette and real tape? > Even 1/4" open-reel is quite credible. > > Especially for those who think MP3 is “music”. > > (yes, I _do_ still have my 1969 Sony TC-377 deck). Yeah, I was going to make a point like this, but the main discussion seems to concern the crapiness of consumer grade tape recording devices and prerecorded tape formats for music. From about 1950 to 1980, whatever format you were listening to your music on, it was probably originally recorded on a tape master. Before then, studio recordings were disk mastered, and in about 1980, digital recording started taking over. During that interval, there were a few “audiophile” direct-to-disk recordings available, which were intended to remove the wow and flutter from the tape mastering process. Debatable how much better they were, particularly as studio tapes were recorded at 15 or 30 ips. The advantages of being able to mix and overdub multiple tape tracks into a final product was a revolution for the industry, and the fidelity was quite good. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tape-recorders-still-used/722181/40 "2015-06-11T22:01:50Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > Indeed, I haven’t seen a horse-drawn carriage in a while. But according to this [Gartner study](http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2944819), “_smartphones accounted for 66 percent of the total mobile phone market_” (in the third quarter of 2014). In other words, ⅓ of all phones still were feature phones. I would consider this relevant. I wouldn’t. As I pointed out, even the cheapest phones can record voice memos. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tape-recorders-still-used/722181.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-tape-recorders-still-used/722181.md?page=3)