Why did tapes always cost more?

[cochrane]

@aceplace57

In terms of access, you could jump around within an album faster on 8 track. I forget how many songs were on a track. Maybe 3 or 4? Let’s use 4 as an example. So going to track 2 instantly brought you too song 5. Push button again and you were on song 9. The label on the 8 track indicated which songs were on each track.

Try finding song 9 on a cassette. It takes awhile. Especially if you fast forward too far and have to reverse.

Many car cassette players had a search function. They would detect the momentary silence in between songs when you hit fast forward or rewind and would stop at the exact beginning of a song. My last cassette player, before I replaced it with a CD player, did this.

[cochrane]

@srzss05

Nobody has mentioned convenience so far (someone mentioned “what the market will bear”, which does have something to do with convenience). You were paying a price for portability (I never saw a record player inside am automobile in the 70s, for example).

Not in the 70s, but various manufacturers made phonographs for use in cars in the 50s and 60s. RCA made an under-dash automatic record changer for use in automobiles in 1961. It could play up to 14 45-RPM records and was supposedly skip-proof, too.

RCA AUTOMATIC 45 RPM CAR RECORD PLAYER MODEL AP-1 1961 DESOTO

[si_blakely]

@cochrane

Many car cassette players had a search function. They would detect the momentary silence in between songs when you hit fast forward or rewind and would stop at the exact beginning of a song. My last cassette player, before I replaced it with a CD player, did this.

There was a cost. The play head did not disengage during FF/REW. Both the head and the tape suffered additional wear during seek operations - and if the tape stuck to the capstan wheel during FF, your cassette was ruined.

Si

[cochrane]

@si_blakely

There was a cost. The play head did not disengage during FF/REW. Both the head and the tape suffered additional wear during seek operations - and if the tape stuck to the capstan wheel during FF, your cassette was ruined.

Si

That’s mostly why I replaced it. I was playing my iPod through the stereo using one of those cassette adapters and the sound started to be really off. It sounded like the tape heads got misaligned and was only playing through the speakers on one side. I replaced it with a stereo with an aux jack on the front of it.

[gatorslap]

Tapes cost less when they weren’t holding music. Cassettes were the cheapest medium you could buy software / computer games on. I’m not sure what made floppy disks more expensive.

@Francis_Vaughan

On the other hand, stamping out a CD is even easier than an LP, but they were introduced at a significant premium in price. A large amount is what the market will bear.

A CD still typically costs a bit more than vinyl.