Lou Ottens, inventor of the cassette tape, has died at 94
Lou Ottens, the Dutch engineer who developed the cassette tape at Philips in 1963, died on Saturday, Dutch media reported Wednesday. He was 94. Ottens joined Philips in 1952 and rose to become head of product development by 1960. He wanted to create a portable tape recorder because he "got annoyed with the clunky, user-unfriendly reel-to-reel system," he explained years later. The Philips "compact cassette" was unveiled at a 1963 electronics fair, boasting it was "smaller than a pack of cigarettes."
Ottens carved a prototype of the cassette out of wood, making sure it would fit inside a jacket pocket, explains Marc Masters, who is writing a book on the history of cassette tapes. (That wooden prototype "was lost when Lou used it to prop up his jack while change a flat tire," Philips Museum director Olga Coolen tells NPR.)
Ottens convinced Philips to license the technology, allowing it to spread to ubiquity by the 1980s. But the cassette tape's inventor, who nearly 20 years later helped Philips develop with Sony the technology behind the consumer compact disc, soured on cassettes and remained committed to the CD.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
For a generation of unsigned bands, Deadheads, and fans of rock, pop, punk, hip hop, and other genres, the cassette tape holds a much more sentimental spot. "Cassettes taught us how to use our voice, even when the message came from someone else's songs, compiled painstakingly on a mixtape," filmmaker Zack Taylor, who interviewed Ottens for his documentary Cassette: A Documentary Mixtape, tells NPR.
John Cusack (and Nick Hornby) memorably explained the rules of the romantic mixtape in High Fidelity.
Ottens told Taylor he's surprised people are still buying and using cassette tapes. "We expected it would be a success, but not a revolution," he said. Peter Weber
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Disney and DeSantis reach detente
Speed Read The Florida governor and Disney settle a yearslong litigation over control of the tourism district
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Visa and Mastercard agree to lower swipe fees
Speed Read The companies will cap the fees they charge businesses when customers use their credit cards
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Reddit IPO values social media site at $6.4 billion
Speed Read The company makes its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Housing costs: the root of US economic malaise?
speed read Many voters are troubled by the housing affordability crisis
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Feds cap credit card late fees at $8
speed read The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule to save households an estimated $10 billion a year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Immigration helped the US economy outpace peers
speed read The U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.2% last quarter
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
4-day workweek gets boost from UK study
Speed Read Following a six-month trial, the majority of participating British companies are still using the truncated schedule
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US sues to block Kroger-Albertsons merger
Speed Read The Federal Trade Commission sued to block the $24.6 billion merger between the grocery giants
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published