Since there are so many stereo enthusiasts in here, I was wondering if anyone could tell me why any manufacturer would even put a cassette deck in a car. Can you even buy tapes at a music store anymore?

I'm really just curious. My brother has always made the argument that he has a lot of mix tapes, But the last time we had that discussion was five years ago when I bought my last car. And recordable CD's have been affordable for years.

I guess I don't understand why they put 3.5 inch floppy drives in computers anymore either.

Anyone have some insight??

 

LOL, it is kind of strange isn't it.
I own a recording studio, and will often dump a song down to cassette so that I can critique the mix, and tweak the song structure as needed, (I do this during misc. road trips) I don't like wasting CD's for just 1 or 2 songs. When I upgrade the audio/video system in the Z, I will probably start using CD-RW's for this purpose. Afterwards, I will probably have no use for cassettes. I agree that cassettes are like floppy's, outdated technology. I don't use floppy's anymore. I use USB flash RAM sticks.

 

I have the CD-Cassette combo in all three cars:

2003 350Z Touring
2001 BMW #30 Cic
1999 Infiniti QX4

And I cannot even remember using the cassette player in any of them. Just a waste of money on the manufacturer's side.

But, USB flash sticks? I gotta get into those.

SilverChrome

 

USB flash stick is just a memory card. Just wut the digi cams come with.

 

"I don't like wasting CD's for just 1 or 2 songs."

I know what you mean. Wont a CD player read rewriteable discs too? I keep backing up my website to the same disc. Works out pretty well.

Andy

 

Many people with long commutes borrow, rent or purchase books on tape to make the time pass. These are almost always on cassette. I used to do this every day, and I almost went for the Touring 350Z just so I could get the Bose system with the cassette player! (This sounds really stupid when I think about it now!)

That's the only reason I can think of having a cassette player. Even the thought of "wasting" a CD-R for a few songs is not an issue, since they cost, what, 15 cents each?

 

ha! I get 50 packs for 3$, thats like 7cents each. like water.

but Id imagine it was just sorta a perk, they could have not put it in... but why? leave it blank? they dont need the space, cassete decks these days are tiny, they already fit 6 CDs in there, couldnt weigh more than a few ounces. basicly its not why, its why not.

VHS is outdated, but I still have a vcr. the old stuff just isnt quite obsolete yet... soon, but as long as they still sell it, many older people(40+, not all, but atleast my parents) are not that familiar with cd burning, and while they buy CDs, they have alot of tapes from years ago.

 

Why not use that space for an equalizer and the button - for switching to AUX input? I bet that more Z owners use MP3 players and computers than tapes.
Bose, wake up, stone age is over!

 

I would've preferred a mini-disc player in the cassette space - and I'm surprised that's not what they did because MD's are really popular in Japan.

I was just looking at the brochure for the UK car, and the photos show the Bose system *without* the cassette player. Instead, above the 1-6 radio pre-set buttons are just six little indented dots on the plastic. Weird! Not sure if these pics are accurate representations of what the UK spec car will get - the dealer's don't even know yet. I'm thinking perhaps they photoshopped out the cassette deck so people didn't get mad if they replaced it with something else or left it out.

???

Time will tell...

 

Rodion mentioned something that I've been looking into...I have an iPod (mp3 player) and the base radio setup. Looking to upgrade my HU and would like one with an AUX input on the front of the system. That way I could plug a jack from my iPod into the HU when I wanted to use it and then just unplug and hide everything when not in use.

I remember seeing a shot of someone's install with an AUX in connection drilled into the "ash tray" slot but I'm not into doing that much work. Looking for lazy man's head unit setup, I guess.

Any suggestions?

Ken