Modern Technology With Cassette Nostalgia

Most of us, except for a select few 80s nutjobs like me, have long since gotten rid of our old-school steroes, boomboxes and Sony Walkmans that played cassettes. After all, that was two generations ago with CDs and now MP3s holding our music hostage. A recent Wired.Com article got me waxing nostalgic about cassettes and I figured it would be fun to peruse Amazon for gadgets that are keeping cassettes alive with modern technology. Here are four items I found that would make No 2 pencils smile.

My Modern Mixtape
Ahh mixtapes, how I miss you. I actually still make night-time mixtapes for my two boys (the latest of which is a doozy with everything from Michael Jackson to Wang Chung.) But obviously, I don't use cassettes with the ease of burning CDs and for the fact that you can't find a small boombox with a cassette deck anymore. But if you still want to "burn a mixtape" without an actual CD, check out My Modern Mixtape. According to their website, this 2GB USB comes with a fold out card to hand write your tracks and then folds up showing a gift box cover to give to your favorite child of the 80s. And of course, the cool thing about this mixtape is you don't need scotch tape to cover up the top holes to record over and regift to another music lover! Amazon Price - $14.99

AGPtek® USB Portable Cassette to MP3 Converter

So you've got all these cassette tapes that you've saved from high school in a large box collecting dust in your garage. Should you donate them to Goodwill? Pull the miles of tape out and make a big pile to jump in like fall leaves? Create a cassette gun to shoot at your neighbor who lets his dog leave piles in your yard? Modern technology to the rescue! Keep your favorite cassette albums and all the wonderful clicking sounds from rewinding and overplaying them by converting to MP3s! AGPtek has come up with a Walkman-like approach to converting all your cassettes to the digital era and finally giving a proper farewell to your rewind and fast forward buttons. Comes with audio editing software, USB or battery power source, and earbud headphones. Amazon Price - $19.98

Belkin XM Auto Cassette Adapter for Apple iPod / Apple iPhone
So you've finally upgraded your brick cell phone to an iPhone, but your still haulin' chicks around in the back of your Subaru Brat. And when there are chicks taking up the pickup bed, there is no room for your tackle boxes full of Bon Jovi and Def Leppard cassettes. Here's a solution. Pop this Belkin XM Auto Cassette Adapter into your system and you can use your iPhone to serenade the ladies with the rock of ages! Should also work with any other device with a headphone jack. Amazon Price - $4.88

3pc Classic Cassette Tape Silicone Case for iPhone 4

Stealth technology at its best. You still want to appear that you just came from the Tastee Freez, sucking on chili dogs and listening to the new John Cougar album in your mag-wheeled Camaro BUT...in actuality, you just got back from standing two hours in line at the wireless store for a new smartphone. Enter this 3-pack of Classic Cassette Tape Cases for iPhone 4. You can easily disguise your lust for modern technology by covering it analog style! And just so your friend don't catch on to your secret, you've got three different colors to use in your retro ploy. (NES and Gameboy cases available and other colors like pink for the ladies!) Amazon Price - $3.25

Leave a comment if you found other retro cassette items!