For a certain generation, cassette tapes have a special place close to the heart. The thrill of recording the Top 40 every Sunday evening and the ensuing frustration at being unable to edit out the DJ speaking over the end of each song will be familiar to a great many people. You know who you are, dancing round the bedroom with a tennis racquet guitar under your arm, unable to forget that humble 90-minute format. The way we consume our music has marched firmly into a digital future, but spare a thought for all those lonely tapes, collecting dust under the bed (along with your original Walkman), by completely reviving them with the ingenious Tape Express.Using the included EZ Tape Converter software, you can plug the Tape Express into your computer (via USB cable), play the songs you love and have them converted instantly into MP3 files. Those MP3 files can then be taken anywhere you'd take your other MP3s - into your iTunes library, your iPod or MP3 Player, burned onto CD and generally taken across all the usual digital platforms for your own personal use, and you can power it either by USB or our old friend the AA battery. How versatile is that?
Looking not unlike an old personal tape player (presumably because it is a personal tape player), but with a somewhat more contemporary design, it's sleek and small enough to be taken anywhere you go, and functions just like your old Walkman - in case you're craving the feel of tape over MP3. You can even use the audio output to connect the Tape Express to your hi-fi or any external amp.
It's a great piece of retro cool that manages to look modern, and functions with the future in mind - bringing back all those forgotten tunes and maybe prompting you to pick up that tennis racquet guitar again.
