Lou Ottens, the Dutch engineer who invented the cassette tape, passed away last Saturday. He was 94.
The cassette made its debut at a 1963 electronics fair with the slogan, “Smaller than a pack of cigarettes!” It was actually created for making sound recordings outside, because it was much more portable than reel-to-reel machines. But once they realized the quality was good enough for music listening, they started putting albums on them.
Over 100 billion were sold worldwide. After the cassette tape, Ottens went on to help develop the compact disc.
