This Was Germany S Half Tape Half Vinyl Music Format That Never Took Off

Maybe the Tefifon was doomed from the start. But it was so amazing, and so German.Tefifon was a non-magnetic plastic tape with etches in it used to play music—a sort of low-tech cassette that played like a vinyl record. Sold primarily in Germany, the device was initially developed as a cheap recording medium for the military before becoming more widespread as a consumer device. The sound quality couldn’t match vinyl, but the storage medium did have one remarkable feature: It could store up to 4 hours of music.According to the Museum of Obsolete Media, most record companies were disinterested in the device, meaning that the format was used mostly by small-run labels and cheapy cover compilations. Now Tefifon is an artifact of a bygone era unlikely to see a vinyl-style revival. But it’s still cool to remember a relic of the format wars:View full post on YoutubeSource: DiggJohn WenzWriterJohn Wenz is a Popular Mechanics writer and space obsessive based in Philadelphia. He tweets @johnwenz.