c30 c60 c90 gone
I am sick of hearing about the death of the audio cassette. Silly season is obviously on the way because the London and national radio stations are jumping all over the news that Currys is to stop selling blank tapes and stereos with tape decks.
First off: so what? Woolies stopped ages ago but their PR officer obviously didn’t have the nous to tell the press - or maybe they did, but there was some of that, wotchercallit, oh yeah, actual news to report that day.
Secondly, there has not been a blanket ban on the use of tape cassettes punishable by death. Just one shop has stopped selling them. It does not mean that you will have to take all your tapes to the car boot sale. Anyone listening to tapes will have their lives impacted by this in, hmmm, preciselyno way at all.
And third: Currys? Hmmm, not sure… I know, I’ll go over the high street to Dixons and see if I can get better value there. Consumer choice in action. Except oh no, sorry, ‘fraid not, they’ve been the same fucking company since 1984 (oh the irony) hence the Dixons rebrand to currys.digital one year ago.
So actually, when I think about it, that is the essence of postmodern consumer choice: it’s all a fucking illusion.