History of 8 Tracks Tape and Why the Format Became Obsolete - Term Paper Example

History of 8 tracks tape and why the format became obsolete. History of 8 tracks tape and why the format became obsolete. Introduction The 8 track tape or the Stereo-8, variously dismissed as a failure, or classed as a spectacular success, had its share of glory and unpopularity, in the world of audio technology. 8 track format is a continuous loop analog audio data stored on a magnetic tape and enclosed in a hard plastic cartridge. Incidentally, 8 track format first became popular in the US as a car accessory when he Ford Motor Company introduced the 8 track tape as a cutting edge accessory for its Mustang model. The music industry was quick to capitalize on its high quality sound and anti-warp and anti-skip properties and soon the 8-track tape became the replacement for vinyl-LP records. The origin of the 8 track tape can be attributed to the motion picture industry of the 1920s, when endless loop motion pictures were used for advertising and other purposes. By 1940s, the endless loop motion picture idea was being used with the new German-style plastic recording tapes. Inventor William J. Lear Despite there being many claimants to its invention, it is William J. Lear who is genuinely credited with inventing the 8 rack magnetic tape. Lear, an inventor and entrepreneur was born in Hannibal, Missouri on June 26, 1902. He attended school in Chicago, Illinois. Lear dropped out of school in the eighth grade. However he continued his efforts at self-learning. As a young man running short on money, Lear joined the Navy. It was while in his job in Navy that he studied radio electronics and developed a passion for sound technology (Rockman 369). Besides, the 8 track tape, Lear is credited with the invention of Learjet airplane. He also has to his credit a large number of radio patents. His in-car radio ‘Motorola’ was a contraction of ‘motor’ and ‘Victrola’ car player. Lear also designed the universal amplifier, which he subsequently sold to the RCA. Lear founded the Lear Electronics Corporation, which after merger with Siegler Corporation in 1960 became the Lear Siegler Inc. Although Lear began his experiments at inventing the eight track tape early, but he remained without success and opted for development of electronic components for the aircraft. In 1940s, Lear earned fame by developing instruments and communications equipment for airplanes. As a licensee of Armor Research Foundation, Lear got access to the laboratory’s R& D facilities and the path breaking wire recording technology, which eventually helped him in his own design for an endless loop tape recorder. Though the project couldn’t be immediately successful, yet it served as a beginning for Lear’s lifelong interest in the endless loop (Morton). After dabbling with sound recording for a while Lear plunged into world of aviation. Cousino, Eash and 4 track format In the meantime, Bernard Cousino of Toledo, Ohio, the owner of an Audio Visual Company began his experiments in endless loop sound recording. In 1952 Cousino was able to develop Echomatic, a two-track cartridge that needed a special player. It was a ¼ inch oxide coated tape that ran at the speed of 3.75 inch per second. The start and stop of the program was signaled by a 1 inch long metal foil that was activated the track change sensor. Echomatic, requiring a special player, was introduced into the market by Cousino Electronics. Almost at the same time, George Eash patented and developed a cartridge with similar specifications. Eash patented it under the brand name of Fidelipac in 1954. The Fidelipac was licensed by Collins Radio Corporation. Variants of Eash’s Fidelipac came to be widely used in the radio stations to play music and spot announcements. Fidelipacs were also called carts by the DJs. These carts could be played, inserted, and automatically stopped. Eash formed the Fidelipac Corporation for the manufacture and sales of the carts. By this time many other manufacturers of Fidelipac including Audiopak had come into the picture. ‘Madman’ Muntz Then there was Earl ‘Madman’ Muntz, an upstart, who made a fortune selling TV sets, manufactured by his self controlled venture Muntz Television, Inc. Muntz was a school drop out and a self-taught engineer. He started his career as a used car dealer. He indulged in histrionics on TV to boost his used car sales. One famous rhetoric he indulged in was: “I buy them retail and sell em wholesale - its more fun that way!”. In early 1960s, he got fascinated with the endless loop technology, giving up his commercial and personal interests in the television technology. Muntz acquired the rights to the 4 track tape and player. The 4 track format takes its name from the fact that two programs, each with two tracks of information (left and right channels of a stereo mix) equals four tracks (Hinman and Brabazon). The 4 track used the same technology as the open ended tape decks but its sound quality was far superior. The initiative of Muntz also kindled the interest of the Ford Motor company in the 4-track format for design of an in-dash cartridge system. Muntz got the Fidelipac custom manufactured in Japan, and licensed music to be played on the carts. The Muntz devices were meant to be installed in the automobiles, but soon he sold the new mass produced stereo tape heads for use in the home recorders also. These heads could play two stereo programs of four recorded tracks on a standard ¼ inch tape. There were two pairs of stereo track in the same configuration as then current ‘quarter track’ reel to reel tapes. The format tried to provide the alternative to LP record that had two sides. Program switching was done by moving the head up and down with a mechanical lever. It appeared that Muntz 4 track Fidelipac was the next big thing in audio market. Muntz were soon adorning the under dash of regions of automobiles belonging to celebrities. In 1963, Lear also became a distributor of Muntz Stereo Pak for installation on his Learjets. However, he was not satisfied with the quality of the product. It was here that Lear reappeared on the scene with the idea of inventing 8 track format that promised a much superior quality sound and decreased prices. The advent of 8 track tape He contacted Nortronics Company of Michigan, the suppliers of original equipment tape heads. Lear ordered for a product with much ‘thinner-pole pieces” to allow for two tracks to be picked off a quarter-inch tape that held a total of 8 tracks. Eight parallel sound tracks corresponding to four stereo programs ran on the tape. This technology was was already being used in data storing. The same year, Lear could invent a new version of the Fidelipac cartridge with somewhat fewer parts and an integral pressure roller. This device came to be popularized as the 8 track cartridge. The format got a fillip with patronization it received from Ford. In 1964, Lear put up for sale hundred such devices for distribution to executives at the auto companies. Soon the 8 track magnetic tape player made to the dashboards of Ford Mustangs and Fairlanes. By 1966, Ford had made the player an optional accessory on its models. 65000 players were installed in the first year itself. These machines were mass produced for Ford by Motorola. Even after a year from its invention, the 8 track player was only sold as a car accessory and the production of home player had not been taken up. Since they were meant for automobiles only, originally, the 4 track and 8 track tapes were sold at highway truck shops only. However, it was clear that 8 track era was here to stay. Cousino retaliated to the increasing popularity of Lear’s 8-track cartridge by joining hands with John Herbert Orr to manufacture for an improved version of Echomatic cartridge. They floated Orrtronics, a company engaged in manufacture of background music system based on the old Echomatic cartridge. The venture was funded by Champion Spark Plug. But project couldn’t be successful as no record company was interested in it. The 8 track cartridge In Lear’s contrivance the neoprene pinch roller was adjusted into the cartridge itself rather than being made a part of the tape player. This greatly reduced the mechanical complexity of the device. The tape players were simple and cost effective. The device doubled the amount of programming on the tape by providing eight tracks consisting of four programs each. Since programming was split into four programs each to accommodate the two sides of LP program, some songs got split into two parts with long silences and reshuffled order of the songs. Despite such technical drawbacks the format was a success because of its lack of complexity, portability, and ease of maneuverability. In its times, the 8 track format was a hugely popular catering to a mass market by providing its users the option of listening to music at home and in cars. The tape-tensioning mechanism and an interlock that prevented tape spillage of the Eash Cartridge were done away with. One feature was common to the Cousino, Eash, Muntz and Lear cartridges; in all of them tape was pulled from the center of the reel passed across the opening from one end of the cartridge and wound back onto the outside of the same reel. The spool was freewheeling and the tape was driven only by tension from the capstan and pinch roller. A slippery backing material like graphite made the tape layers slip past each other. However, unlike the two reel system, Lear’s cartridge didn’t have the rewind facility as it was technically impossible. The fast forwarding facility could be added by speeding up the motor and cutting off the audio. However, due to the use of a small length of conductive foil at the splice joint on the tape, which would cause the player to change tracks as it passed the head assembly, Lear’s device could switch tracks automatically. There was an audible pause and a mechanical click when tracks were switched. The head was moved while switching from program to program. However, since the alignment of the head was crucial to the player’s performance, there was a continuous decline in the performance. 8 track tapes were a huge success between the mid-60s and the mid-70s with their production ending only by the mid-80s. The 8 track cartridges owed their popularity largely to the booming automobile business of the 1960s and 70s. The 8 track programming was an improvement of the 4 track tape format because it could hold double the amount of sound. However, the 8 track format compromised the sound quality, as there was an increase in the background noises due to narrower tape tracks. In 1966, Lear introduced the home players and the users got the option of sharing tapes between their home and automobile systems. Although the two tracks are similar in shape and size the two formats were not compatible having been developed by two different and competing factions in industry (Hinman and Brabazon). Lear’s 8 track cartridge was almost identical to the 4 track cartridge that came before it. But Lear earned the competitive advantage of his product over the 4 track format through his assiduous marketing (Lavine).For some time, the 4-track and 8-track tape co-existed but eventually the latter drove away the former from the market (Hinman and Brabazon). The 4 track format had a head start over the 8-track format as it was first developed in 1956, but its actual market potential was exploited by Muntz in the mid-60s (Hinman and Brabazon). Why the 8 track became obsolete? By the early-70s, Phillips had started the mass production of the compact cassette, which besides having the advantages of the 8 track tapes, had additional features like rewinding facility, smaller size, and improved sound quality. In fact, the compact cassette was first introduced Phillips in 1963. The cassette with BASF technology had polyester 1/8-inch tape that ran at 1-7/8 ips (Schoenherr). In the first year of its introduction, Phillips could sell only nine thousand compact cassette units. Phillips did not reserve the use of product as proprietary but encouraged other companies to license its use. The company collaborated with Japanese manufacturers to make available the cassette players in the market. Many such makes of cassette players were available when the product was promoted for home use in the late-60s. The compact cassette recorder gave user the option of playing and recording music with reasonable tone quality and easy operation. Later improvements made the compact cassette a favored choice as a hi-fi medium. 8 track soon lost its sheen in the market. As the compact cassette came to be replaced by compact disc in the 80s, the 8 track format completely faded out of the market. But till then, 8 track format remained in production for 23 years from its invention (Lyons). There were several negative factors in the 8 track that led to its obsolescence. One of them was that it did not provide home recording facility (Lyons).Another reason for the decline of 8-track format’s popularity was the decrease in the quality of the parts as it resulted in the loss of reliability and smoothness. The tape tension added to the unreliability factor. The tension either resulted in the breakage or jam. The tapes could hold an album of 45 minutes, at the maximum. In the tapes of shorter duration, there was the problem of overfeed as the tape had the tendency of becoming loose inside the cartridge. As the customers wanted the tape to contain more music, the manufacturers developed units with greater capacity. As the tape length increased it became impossible to maintain a constant speed. Another disadvantage of the open reel tape recorders was that they were too bulky and too expensive for general consumer use (Maes, Vercammen and Baert 260). Stereo-8 also earned unpopularity because of the phenomenon of stereo eating the tape and splice failures. In the US, the 8 track tapes faded out from the retail stores by 1982, though they were available in Europe till three years after that. As late as in mid-80s, Madonnas early albums, and Michael Jacksons "Thriller," were offered on 8-track format (Lavine). The blank tapes and cassette players and recorders were much more cost effective than their predecessors, the 8 track and 4 track formats. By the end of 1960s and the early 70s a number of variants of the endless loop cartridges were available in the market. The record companies were trying to restrict the number of formats in the early 70s. No sooner had the sales of the 8 track format declined that the record companies were quick to abandon it. Conclusion Like any scientific device, the 8 track tape went through different phases in its lifetime. Though the format may seem too primitive and obsolete in the world of digital electronics, it is a fact that the format was hugely popular for a decade and a half. It is remarkable that long after they had lost the market popularity, the 8 track tapes continued to be used in radio stations, till 80s, for playing jingles, advertisements, station identifications and music. Later, they got replaced with various kinds of digital devices. 8 track tapes have now become collector’s pride. Works Cited Hinman, D, and Jason Brabazon. “The Rise and Fall of the 8-Track.” 1994. 8-Track Heaven. 29 September 2009. < http://www.8trackheaven.com/history.html> Lavine, A. “An Early History of 8-Track” n.d. 8-Track Heaven. 28 September 2009. http://www.8trackheaven.com/early.html Maes, J, Vercammen, M, and Luc Baert. Digital audio technology: a guide to CD, MiniDisc, SACD, DVD(A), MP3 and DAT. New York: Focal Press, 2001. Lyons, Patrick J. “The Compact Disc Turns 25”. The New York Times News Blog 2007. The New York Times. 28 September 2009. < http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/17/the-compact-disc-turns-25/> Morton, D. “A History of the Eight Track Tape.” 1998. Web Generation. 29 September 2009 Rockman, Howard W. Intellectual Property Law for Engineers and Scientists. 2004. NJ: Wiley-IEEE, 2004 Schoenherr, Steven, E. “Recording Technology History” History Department.2005. University of San Diego. 29 September 2009. < http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/recording/notes.html> Read More