Those old cassette tapes are still good for something

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Nostalgic for cassette tapes but love the convenience of iPods?

Now you can have them both in one product.

Hollowed-out cassette tapes are being sold as iPod holders . Credit: Contexture Design.

A pair of Canadian designers are recycling cassette tapes into iPod cases. From one side, the holder looks more or less like an old-fashioned cassette (remember how there was always a hiss in the sound?), but when you flip it over there’s a hollowed-out area that fits the latest generation of the iPod Nano. They’ve also put in some cushioning foam and a plastic sleeve to protect the player, while still making it possible to work the touch-wheel.

A release from the designers’ company, Contexture Design, says the product, called the 45nano, was made ‘according to Contexture’s philosophy of using recycled and re-purposed materials.’

It does not, however, say why anyone would want to spend $45 Canadian on the device.

Maybe it’s just the thing for listening to old Journey albums. You just have to supply your own hiss.

-- David Colker