Phonograph, 8 track, cassette tape, CD notable aliases

A variety of physical data delivery media, a legacy that began with the introduction of the phonograph and suffered through various identify crisis’s including the 8 track, cassette and compact disc, died recently following a long, slow death that was facilitated by the increasing prevalence, speed and convenience of digital file sharing. It was 153.

It is survived by the daily newspaper, but just barely. It was preceded in death by Latin, Mark Twain and the polyester pantsuit.

Physical data media enjoyed a prosperous life and career that included a number of reinventions. These periods of rejuvenation were frequently followed by renewed interest and popularity among the public, lionization by the news media, as well as stature as a go-to gift for birthdays and holidays.

The sound recording and delivery medium was born in 1857 with the issue of a patent for a phonautograph, a devise that looks like a cement truck had physical relations with a sewing machine. It probably sounded just as good. Soon after, a young scamp named Thomas Alva Edison devised the crazy idea for recording and reproducing sound via the phonograph. Following his trial and subsequent acquittal on charges of witchcraft, Edison and his phonograph provided popular, leading directly to the advent of ragtime, jazz and, eventually, rap music.

Magnetic tape, popularized through development of the 8 track and eventually the cassette, followed and provided the convenience of portability and ease of home recording. Cassettes also helped birth the concept of mix tapes, collections of songs from various artists that were notorious for their singular ability to both kindle puppy love generating times of euphoria as well as provide solace during times of ice cream-laden grief when said relationships ultimately failed because someone got caught making out with someone else. Tragic.

Digital media burst onto the scene, shiny and tiny, with the compact disc in the early 1980s – technology had arrived, and it was clear that flying cars powered by water would soon follow. While CDs enjoyed a good ride, like everything else, with the exception of the Rolling Stones, their time had come. There was a new sheriff in town and he had a new sheriff name – the MP3. And he wasn’t at all like anything that had come before. Now music could be recorded and stored on devices the size of one’s thumb.

Pandora.com, Rhapsody.com and Lala.com jumped in and offered another option – “cloud storage” of music that can be accessed vie the Internet through from most electronic and mobile devices – no longer are there any files to store. When Apple purchased lala earlier this year, and announced in April that the service would shut down effective May 31, it showed that cloud storage and access for iTunes was likely right around the corner. And, apparently, these Apple folks have a pretty good feel for what’s next.

Thus marked the Waterloo for physical data media, its ultimate demise. At the time of its death, physical data media was neither scratched or wrinkled but was, nevertheless, collecting dust on a shelf or in an old Reebok box or something.

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