Give cassettes a try
published in Chicago, IL
My partner and I have been trying on different ways to cut back on digital consumption. We got our kid an AM/FM radio last September, and it quickly became her favorite gadget of all time.
She has a favorite radio station for different times of the day, a favorite morning talk show, opinions on the best pop station, and a newfound love of '90’s pop and alt-rock. We handed her a portal to untold worlds and she ran with it.
The FM tuner on our ancient TV receiver introduced us to 91.1 Vocalo Radio. My point-and-shoot camera gets first dibs over my camera app when I’m out in the world. Fewer bells, dings, push notifications, news alerts, movie ticket pre-sales. More singular focuses, capturing the world, listening to albums and not aggressively narrow algorithmically generated playlists of artists I can’t commit to memory.
Becca Farsace documented the novelty of it: Insert the cassette or CD, hit PLAY ›, adjust the - VOLUME + wheel. That was the beginning and end of the decision-making process. The studio producers or the person crushing on you enough to make you a mixtape take over from there. I miss that. I want that.