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Welcome to Hell, here's your 8-Track

Neil Postman once said, 

"Anyone who has studied the history of technology knows that technological change is always a Faustian bargain: Technology giveth and technology taketh away, and not always in equal measure. A new technology sometimes creates more than it destroys. Sometimes, it destroys more than it creates. But it is never one-sided."

I'm pretty sure that we know that the 8-track was more bad than good.

Question for audiophiles here who might know -- was there anything good about 8-track technology that was lost when it went extinct? And what was that good, audio-wise, specifically?

 

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Showing 3 responses by fuzztone

fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,508 posts
 

Compared to preceding tech the 8-Track was great.

Home recorded ones even better. As far as I've gotten in this rag.

fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,508 posts
 

Their advantage was portability. You seem to think that vinyl was better in the 60s. Not for the masses. Few had decent TTs. The LP12 didn’t show up until ’72. Only an Elvis mobile had a turntable in it. (See the Nashville Hall of Fame by a Nudie mobile) That format probably worked worse than 8-track while it was moving If you were there you sure don’t act like it.

Vinyl freaks around here say it’s the best formt. Stay home with your vinyl young chickens Meanwhile I’ll enjoy any music I want while on the go.

You can’t criticize 8-track factoring in the times. I heard some albums then that made me prefer the 8-track song order. To this day.

The worst? Try wire recorders. But they were the best at the time, good enough to fool the Nazi military.

fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,508 posts
 

missing ehen it went extinct?

I don’t believe that intelligent individuals ponder this.

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