Our business plan considered that cassettes would flatten out as CDs grew. We had deals with Dolby, Sony, Nakamichi, TDK, JVC, NCR, and even RIAA.
This was before MP3. We developed the first compressed archive (using Dolby AC1), and a data format on CDA that rolled out before CDROM.
The reason the company hit a speed-bump is that the labels started to back out of the supply of new releases and the catalog went stale. It's as simple as that.
@BonPapaProductions I made a few Personics tapes when I was younger. I thought the convenience of getting a quality custom made tape (with Dolby B NR!) was a marvel for its time.
Does Dolby AC1 have anything to do with Dolby AC-3? Was there a Dolby AC-2?
The reason Personics never quite took off was because it was introduced just as CDs were really gaining dominance and people weren't too interested in cassettes. The ordering process was kind of a pain, you had to request their catalog, then send back an order form, then wait for them to make and send your tape. I did it once and it had some novelty value but it just was the wrong thing at the wrong time.
I wonder why this never really took off; it's a spiffy idea, and I'd have loved it if I'd have been able to make my own "Now That's What I Call Music" type compilations with the stuff *I* wanted.
Consumer MP3 players only came out in the *late* 90s, three or four years before the iPod, and they weren't a big hit then. Why?
Because those early models only had 32MB(!) or so, which was like an hour's music. Similar to a cassette or CD Walkman, but without the ability to change music on the go. (And IIRC a lot of them still used the horrendously slow serial port for transferring music from PC).
The iPod came out around the time that increasing capacity (and falling prices) in portable storage had improved *just* enough to unlock the true potential of the format.
This is probably *not* a coincidence.
I'm not crediting Apple for those technological improvements per se- I'm saying that they launched the iPod when the technology made it worthwhile.
Had it come out a couple of years earlier, it would have been limited by small memory and not an iPod as we know it.
Cool. There was one of these in Tower Records in Boston in the early 90s, but it was a different company. If anyone remembers what it was called please PM me.
@VJTOMYAZ Musicland/Goody had this also. It didn't fail for lack of interest...it probably died a Goody because at the Musicland in idaho my brother worked at shrink was terrible. The management didn't seen to care, he left and he would point out the shoplifting as we passed in that mall and just remarked "**** them they'll be gone soon".
He wasn't far off and they've been gone for years.
Hell, I'd trade in my iPod for someone to make me custom cassettes. Miss stuff like this.
CinemaDust 1 month ago
I was one of the founders of Personics.
Our business plan considered that cassettes would flatten out as CDs grew. We had deals with Dolby, Sony, Nakamichi, TDK, JVC, NCR, and even RIAA.
This was before MP3. We developed the first compressed archive (using Dolby AC1), and a data format on CDA that rolled out before CDROM.
The reason the company hit a speed-bump is that the labels started to back out of the supply of new releases and the catalog went stale. It's as simple as that.
mkp
BonPapaProductions 2 years ago
BTW The other name you might remember Personics by was "Warner Custom Music" which was the rebranded name after Time-Warner bought the company.
BonPapaProductions 2 years ago
@BonPapaProductions I made a few Personics tapes when I was younger. I thought the convenience of getting a quality custom made tape (with Dolby B NR!) was a marvel for its time.
Does Dolby AC1 have anything to do with Dolby AC-3? Was there a Dolby AC-2?
laserdiscphan 4 months ago
The reason Personics never quite took off was because it was introduced just as CDs were really gaining dominance and people weren't too interested in cassettes. The ordering process was kind of a pain, you had to request their catalog, then send back an order form, then wait for them to make and send your tape. I did it once and it had some novelty value but it just was the wrong thing at the wrong time.
andrewlenahan 2 years ago
I wonder why this never really took off; it's a spiffy idea, and I'd have loved it if I'd have been able to make my own "Now That's What I Call Music" type compilations with the stuff *I* wanted.
NotATube 2 years ago
In the "days before I-tunes and i-pods" people used devices that did the exact same thing but didn't come from apple.
Superphilipp 3 years ago
I am pretty sure that people didn't have Mp3 devices back in the days of audio tapes, though.
Billz1981 3 years ago
I was referring to the 90s.
Superphilipp 3 years ago
Consumer MP3 players only came out in the *late* 90s, three or four years before the iPod, and they weren't a big hit then. Why?
Because those early models only had 32MB(!) or so, which was like an hour's music. Similar to a cassette or CD Walkman, but without the ability to change music on the go. (And IIRC a lot of them still used the horrendously slow serial port for transferring music from PC).
NotATube 2 years ago
The iPod came out around the time that increasing capacity (and falling prices) in portable storage had improved *just* enough to unlock the true potential of the format.
This is probably *not* a coincidence.
I'm not crediting Apple for those technological improvements per se- I'm saying that they launched the iPod when the technology made it worthwhile.
Had it come out a couple of years earlier, it would have been limited by small memory and not an iPod as we know it.
NotATube 2 years ago
*That* is why MP3 players and iPods took off in the early 2000s... and not the late 1990s.
Because late 90s tech limited the potential of those machines and relegated them to overpriced geek toys.
NotATube 2 years ago
Cool. There was one of these in Tower Records in Boston in the early 90s, but it was a different company. If anyone remembers what it was called please PM me.
douglasmcgowan 3 years ago
I remember that machine at tower! Cant remember the name either.
VJTOMYAZ 3 years ago
@VJTOMYAZ Musicland/Goody had this also. It didn't fail for lack of interest...it probably died a Goody because at the Musicland in idaho my brother worked at shrink was terrible. The management didn't seen to care, he left and he would point out the shoplifting as we passed in that mall and just remarked "**** them they'll be gone soon".
He wasn't far off and they've been gone for years.
steadfastcoward 1 year ago
I remember seeing Personics in New York City visits from 1989 to 1991.
heine71 4 years ago