For a change, a chunk of this week’s news chum formed a theme: they all relate to things that are going away, or coming back:
- Coming Back: The Cassette. In my youth, I spent hours and hours engineering cassettes of my vinyl collection. Now I just put all my albums on my iPod, and cassettes have all but disappeared. But have they? It appears the lowly cassette, just like vinyl, is seeing a comeback.
- Going Away: The CD. As analog forms come back, physical digital forms are disappearing. Here’s an exploration of how the decline of the CD occurred. Short and sweet summary: The record companies were more worried about recordable CDs than they were about the growth of the MP3 market, to their detriment.
- Coming Back: Old Technical Devices. Want to keep that old technical device running (I know I do)? Here’s an article from the NY Times on how to do so.
- Going Away: Movieland Wax Museum. Actually, more precisely is “went away”, but the sign is still there. However, even that might be going away soon.
- Coming Back: Skymall. Yes, that source of everything odd is returning.
- Going Away: Jewish Delis. The closing of Solly’s in Van Nuys prompts that age old question: Is the traditional Jewish Deli disappearing from the landscape, due to both price and the move away from unhealthy meats like Pastrami and Corned Beef?
- Coming Back: Shuttle Fuel Tanks. The last remaining shuttle fuel tank will be coming to the California Science Center to complete the shuttle display.
