Editing Cassette tape (section)

==Rivals and successors==
[[File:Elcaset and Compact Cassette size comparison.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.25|Size comparison of Elcaset (left) with standard Compact Cassette]]

Technical development of the cassette effectively ceased when digital recordable media, such as [[digital audio tape|DAT]] and [[MiniDisc]], were introduced in the late 1980s and early-to-mid 1990s, with [[Dolby S]] recorders marking the peak of Compact Cassette technology. Anticipating the switch from analog to digital format, major companies, such as Sony, shifted their focus to new media.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Al Fasoldt |title=Sony Unveils the Minidisc |url=http://aroundcny.com/technofile/texts/minidisc91.html |publisher=The Syracuse Newspapers |year=1991 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090823021916/http://aroundcny.com/technofile/texts/minidisc91.html |archive-date=23 August 2009 |author-link=Al Fasoldt }}</ref> In 1992, Philips introduced the [[Digital Compact Cassette]] (DCC), a DAT-like tape in almost the same shell as a Compact Cassette. It was aimed primarily at the consumer market. A DCC deck could play back both types of cassettes. Unlike DAT, which was accepted in professional usage because it could record without [[lossy compression]] effects, DCC failed in home, mobile and professional environments, and was discontinued in 1996.<ref>{{Cite news|author=Gijs Moes|title=Successor of cassette failed: Philips stops production of DCC|publisher=Eindhovens Dagblad|date=31 October 1996}}</ref>

[[File:CassetteAndMicrocassette.jpg|thumb|A Compact Cassette and a Microcassette]]

The [[microcassette]] largely supplanted the full-sized cassette in situations where voice-level fidelity is all that is required, such as in dictation machines and [[answering machine]]s. Microcassettes have in turn given way to digital recorders of various descriptions.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[J&R]] Product Guide|title=Cassette vs. Digital|url=http://www.jr.com/Templates/Guides/answering+machines.tem?JRSource=nsa&nsa=1#01|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928011505/http://www.jr.com/Templates/Guides/answering%2Bmachines.tem?JRSource=nsa&nsa=1#01|archive-date=28 September 2007}}</ref> Since the rise of cheap [[CD-R]] discs, and [[flash memory]]-based [[digital audio player]]s, the phenomenon of "home taping" has effectively switched to recording to a Compact Disc or downloading from commercial or music-sharing websites.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Phonograph records and prerecorded audio tapes and disks|encyclopedia=Gale Encyclopedia of American Industries|year=2005|url=http://www.answers.com/topic/phonograph-records-and-prerecorded-audio-tapes-and-disks|access-date=20 September 2006|archive-date=2 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502080457/http://www.answers.com/topic/phonograph-records-and-prerecorded-audio-tapes-and-disks|url-status=live}}</ref>

Because of consumer demand, the cassette has remained influential on design, more than a decade after its decline as a media mainstay. As the Compact Disc grew in popularity, cassette-shaped [[Cassette tape adapter|audio adapters]] were developed to provide an economical and clear way to obtain CD functionality in vehicles equipped with cassette decks but no CD player. A portable CD player would have its analog line-out connected to the adapter, which in turn fed the signal to the head of the cassette deck. These adapters continue to function with [[Digital audio player|MP3 players]] and smartphones, and generally are more reliable than the FM transmitters that must be used to adapt CD players and digital audio players to car stereo systems. Digital audio players shaped as cassettes have also become available, which can be inserted into any cassette player and communicate with the head as if they were normal cassettes.<ref>{{cite web|author=Jer Davis |publisher=[[The Tech Report]] |title=The Rome MP3: Portable MP3 player—with a twist |url=http://techreport.com/reviews/2000q3/romemp3/ |access-date=18 September 2006 |year=2000 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813094531/http://techreport.com/reviews/2000q3/romemp3/ |archive-date=13 August 2006 }} ([[Internet Archive]] link)</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=Fastsite|title=C@MP CP-UF32/64 a New Portable Mp3-Player Review|url=http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/multimedia/display/camp.html|access-date=18 September 2006|year=2000|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100914232605/http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/multimedia/display/camp.html|archive-date=14 September 2010}}</ref>