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Some of us still have tape decks in our vehicles ... A lot of independent musicians now put out their stuff on tapes (with included downloaded of the album). I like that they are catering to the niche market of music fans who are still driving old cars.
Are tapes going to be adopted by hipsters like records? The hiss and rewind mechanism will provide a more authentic listening experience?
It's possible. I've never had a new car so I never abandoned tapes. They're pretty durable, which is good for those who are not fastidious in their care of CDs.
Truthfully, towards the end of tapes popularity, the sound quality got excellent. Dolby helps.
Folks also want to buy something tangible, maybe for the art, even if they never listen to the cassette, when they are buying a recording at a show. It's hard to just sell a piece of paper with a download code on it.
Odessa Records - **** Horse this tape is currently in my tape deck. Perfect acoustic quality is of no use to these weirdos.
The error of his argument is exposed when you realize that buses are only economical because of pervasive subsidy by the taxpayer.
The problem with government funding of rail - it's equally bad.
Let us remember that between 1890 - 1920, the U.S. had privately funded and profitable urban electric rail mass transit (streetcars, trolleys, trams). If it wasn't for the widespread public subsidy for roads, the automobiles / buses / trucks would not have had a chance.
A few points -
There is no transportation that's truly profitable and there never really has been but most governments overseeing something resembling a market economy (going back to antiquity) recognize that if you don't have adequate and well maintained transportation infrastructure then the movement of goods and services slows, your economy suffers, the movement of goods and services slows more, your economy gets worse and around and around.
The capital costs of early railroads were covered largely through the sale and development of real estate - made more lucrative by state and federal land grants and other corrupt dealings.
The same is true of most of the streetcar networks that developed in American cities prior to the 1920s. Farebox recovery stayed high enough to cover operating costs as long as they were the only game in town but the revenue from fares still wasn't enough to cover the ongoing capital costs. Some streetcars started shutting down as early as the 1920s and when most were dismantled in the 1950s it's because they were falling apart after decades of deferred maintenance.
If you want a world class transportation network - it costs - it's a shame more people don't realize the importance of having one.
Are tapes going to be adopted by hipsters like records? The hiss and rewind mechanism will provide a more authentic listening experience?
Haha I'm sure that may happen. you see a lot of new bands trying to have a more "authentic" sound, so they use fiddles, banjos, brass instruments like trombones or tubas. One of my teachers suggest I record on a tape as well lol.
I wouldn't listen to radio shows/podcasts/audio books on busy arterials with drivers cutting me off, traffic lights, etc since those require a lot of attention. However, if the drive through the American Midwest is anything like the Canadian Prairies, I would probably want something to keep my mind occupied. The Trans-Canada Highway from Sudbury to Calgary is mostly very boring, fairly straight to very straight with little change in the surrounding landscape, very little traffic to worry about and no intersections, pedestrians... If listening to audio books means you won't fall asleep at the wheel, it could be safer in those kinds of driving conditions.
There is a huge difference between actual "mulitasking" and listening to a freaking book on tape!
Not really, not in the case of driving. If you're paying attention to driving, which we should all do in any situation, then you're not paying attention to the book on tape. If you're really listening to the book on tape, such that you can actually remember and reflect upon it's details, then you're not paying attention to driving.
Sometimes driving doesn't demand our full attention (long trips, stop-and-go traffic) because the brain gets bored. Even in normal commuting, driving can be so calm as to allow us to switch between tasks (eg, radio, audiobook) without an automatic accident. Clearly, I'm not saying you cannot nor have not really gotten in to an audiobook while driving. I am saying, however, that if you have, you weren't attending to driving at the same time because the brain literally does not have that capacity.
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