Daniel Buzzo
Being Left Behind EnjoyerListening to a 50-year old cassette on a Walkman from 1998… and it sounds really good.
In 50 years from now, will any of current streaming services still be around?
Jxyzn Sxyzyxn@thomasfuchs the Anna's Archive might still be a torrent...
Eli the Bearded
julf@thomasfuchs No, the streaming services will have gone, but the music, in full lossless digital quality will still be there.
M Schommer
Ray McCarthy@musevg @julf @thomasfuchs
CDs.
I've 30+ year old CDs and CD players still perfect.
Only the Goldish Archival Writeable CDs are perfect among CD I wrote rather than bought pressed ones.
Most of the floppies that age have errors.
I've some 78s over 100yrs and vinyl, they damaged each time they are played.
Most of my audio tapes sound much the same.
I still buy CDs, but listen to rips.
Satellite Radio rather than streaming.
CDs.
I've 30+ year old CDs and CD players still perfect.
Only the Goldish Archival Writeable CDs are perfect among CD I wrote rather than bought pressed ones.
Most of the floppies that age have errors.
I've some 78s over 100yrs and vinyl, they damaged each time they are played.
Most of my audio tapes sound much the same.
I still buy CDs, but listen to rips.
Satellite Radio rather than streaming.
Where exactly is that "there" in this scenario?
Alex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UK@elithebearded @julf @thomasfuchs
You would have to download it in a suitable format and store it on your own SD-cards or other storage media, and keep an eye on these over the years. So not so different from the cassette, but with no generation loss and physically smaller (be careful not to mislay some smaller storage media!)
I have to do this anyway to listen to music in the car, as every streaming app and the navi sound announcements fight (the transition between the two is jarring to the point of being a distraction when driving), and the music apps randomly blare out the music from the phone loudspeaker at full volume when I leave the car (often late at night), but SD card playback works well (can't use USB as the socket is occupied by an Android Auto wifi converter)
That "keep an eye on these over the years" doing a lot of heavy lifting
@elithebearded @julf @thomasfuchs
you have to do the same with magnetic tape, which can degrade in various ways, although cassettes can hold up quite well if kept in good condition. vinyl records seem to be the most resilient media, but aren't that portable (I was a DJ during the 90s, and hauled around many boxes of them!)
Carbon ink on paper lasts a good long time. I have books within reach older than human produced vinyl. Clay tablets probably longer.
@julf @vfrmedia @elithebearded I had a record warp because I accidentally left it somewhere the sun could shine on it for a few hours 🥴
@vfrmedia @elithebearded @thomasfuchs I am lucky to have one of the original Empegs (25+-year-old hard disk based in-car player).
Ben HammondWow ! What's your secret!
Most of my old cassettes have got increasingly muffled,
Or the tape has stretched and/or broken
And the hiss certainly gets worse.
Was it a Chrome tape maybe?
Do they last longer?
Michael Kranz@benh @thomasfuchs tape can be extremely good for preserving data, but moisture, light, and changes in temperature can compromise that significantly over time. I imagine this old tape was in a dark, dry, and relatively cool place for most of the last handful of decades
Social Commentary Bot@mkranz @benh @thomasfuchs Also, it appears to be an older tape.
IIRC the quality of audio on tapes went down as you went through the 80s due to faster duplication rates leading to lower quality transfers. Also variable quality of the tapes themselves to save on costs, especially when CD started eating into the profit margins.
The move to stereo in the 60s also had an impact by effectively doubling the number of tracks on the tape, but much earlier on.
@benh @thomasfuchs
Not actually using them and good storage (cool & dry) is the secret to tape preservation. Very thin tape wound too tight will "print through" and deteriorate.
Flash storage is far worse.
Not actually using them and good storage (cool & dry) is the secret to tape preservation. Very thin tape wound too tight will "print through" and deteriorate.
Flash storage is far worse.
Pásimo il suricata@thomasfuchs Voy a llamar al amigo @philspectrum para que vea esto.
Phil Spectrum
AKK@thomasfuchs
I love JMJ's music.
I love JMJ's music.
Justine SmithiesGood old Walkmans! I used to repair those in my spare time for folk back in the day when i was an audio visual engineer for Bang & Olufsen.
Matthew Sparby@thomasfuchs And if they are, will they be compulsory?
David Cantrell 🏏@thomasfuchs I remember enjoying that album. Now I feel old. You bastard.
iris ✿ sandwalker
Tony Byrne@thomasfuchs I have a Panasonic unit from the same era, sadly in need of new belts. They really were marvels of engineering. They’re not much bigger than the cases cassettes came in. Mine commuted with me to work for years.
Stuart Longland (VK4MSL)@thomasfuchs I've got records that have passed through two generations before me.
Try that with a streaming service.
Cegorach@thomasfuchs 50? I would't even bet on 5.
Devil 
@thomasfuchs I think streaming services will not be around, but I hope I can still plug my HDD in and enjoy the media I digitally own
Micemade@thomasfuchs music, and possibly, we won't be around...
🅵
Wikinaut
Bram Moreinis@thomasfuchs OMG is it 50 years since Oxygene? Damn, I'm old.
@bmoreinis dunn da da da dunn
David Grieve@thomasfuchs
Compact cassette was never and is still not a very high fidelity format. I like tapes and had several hundred at one point (back in the day), but they were for the car and my Walkman, not for my home hifi.
Lossless digital has been here for years and is just getting better and better. The bits will get bigger. All analogue formats are for possers, snobs and hipsters.
Michael Simons
Greg Woods@rotnroll666 @thomasfuchs Had the exact same thought myself. I picked up this 1978 Dutch made boombox which still works. Next level engineering
@thomasfuchs @gjmwoods How is that stuff so much nicer than what we have today?
@rotnroll666 @thomasfuchs I think I just lost a bidding war on eBay for the same machine 😂
They are so much nicer. All the switches make satisfying clicks when you press them.
@gjmwoods @rotnroll666 my favorite is the tuning dial on the big chonky receivers, never has there been a user interface more satisfying to use
xinit ☕ / 🗑🔥@thomasfuchs My first thought was that you were saying 1998 was 50 years ago, and I just wasn't ready for that this morning.
@xinit not just yet 😅