Tapete - The enduring audio format you (probably) haven’t heard of

[@ian_b]

Every time Techmoan has covered every historic format, the Universe adjusts itself to generate some more.

[@JaredConnell]

There is no way there are any more media formats he hasn't yet covered I'm sure of it!

[@jhoughjr1]

it is his curse. His purgatory

[@bsadewitz]

@TimoThere is some joke here involving the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics here that I am too dim to properly articulate.

[@Rompler_Rocco]

Woke up this morning and found a box in my garage, full of what looks like steel funnels of endless-looping 7-track tape. Now I see this upload and it makes sense 🛸

[@outspokeninsider752]

nah, the rabbit hole of formats ais both deep and wide. The closer he comes, the more come to light. I still have a few unseen oddballs I'll send in a few years if he hasn't found em yet.

[@GordonHudson]

I am so glad you did this video. I worked for the RNIB in the 1980s and there are a couple of things you didn't find out. Firstly, the tapes were sent freepost in special mailers, not paid for by the RNIB, but the Royal Mail. It was a special class of mail that was required to be sent free of charge by law. The RNIB didn't have to pay it, the Royal Mail did. The other thing is that these machines were maintained by volunteers, who were mainly retired TV repair people or Radio Amateurs. As a Radio Amateur myself, after I left the RNIB I did a stint as a volunteer and I had the service manual until I cleared out my mum's house recently. The library of tapes was considerable and they were used by other services like the hospital one you have the examples from. The RNIB mailers had to go through the post so they were reusable and made of padded plastic material unlike the cardboard hospital ones you showed which were for handing back to the hospital library. I hope this is of some interest to people who watched this video.

[@jericotyler]

I almost started skipping forward when I heard him say "Audible". That's a Pavlovian level response right there.

[@samuelschwager]

Speaking of Audible... ;)

[@X_Baron]

How raidshadowlegendsy of you.

[@Fuzy2K]

"This audiobook is sponsored by Raycon..."

[@GhoulToast]

@@samuelschwager how do you skip it in vanced?

[@samuelschwager]

@@GhoulToast I have no idea. I pay for YT Premium ;)

[@darrengorham667]

My late dad was a self-employed plumber, and I often helped him. One of his customers was virtually blind, and I can remember seeing one of these in his living room, 25+ years ago. I saw the thumbnail,and recognised it straight away. Thank you for bringing back some memories of working with my dad, and his wonderful clients.

[@djdjukic]

If you don't mind me asking, why did you censor the word "emp!oyed"?

[@CommodoreFan64]

@@djdjukic looks to be a simple typo to me.

[@darrengorham667]

@@djdjukic sorry, typo!

[@darrengorham667]

@@CommodoreFan64 I didn't realise that my tablet had automatically spelt 'employed' like that until reading these comments! My apologies, and your answer was spot on

[@darrengorham667]

Typo in the word 'employed' now corrected

[@staberas]

Personally i was kinda expecting to hear: "This audiobook will self destruct in 10 seconds"

[@outspokeninsider752]

He already did the mission impossible one, check it out!

[@jdraven0890]

Techmoan: Unfortunately, the belt that runs the self-destruct mechanism was gone to goo, and I couldn't find a proper replacement. Well, I suppose that's probably for the best.

[@v.l.thafamkimapachuau5098]

* Hunter x Hunter flashbacks *

[@jdraven0890]

@@hadeishadeis7462 Your "guide dog" looks suspiciously like an old rug thrown over a stack of explosives, with a piece of detonation cord for a "leash".

[@jdraven0890]

@@hadeishadeis7462 This is turning into a really bad Monty Python sketch!

[@wal]

You never fail to deliver with the obscure formats of the past. Agreed it is very interesting these were used up to the 2000's. Thanks for another great video!

[@mauanderuk]

Many thanks to both of you.

[@djhaloeight]

Ya big dummy! 😆

[@NerdyMeathead]

Dude! Put more home amps on the dynos. They don't have to be new get some 2nd hand junk

[@der_pinguin44]

Big D! Great to see you here!

[@mufc10529]

I remember seeing them in librarys where I live in bolton

[@erwintimmerman6466]

The amount of cartridges they managed to put the exact same 1/4" tape in never ceases to amaze me.

[@Bubu567]

Well, to be fair, it's just plastic tape with a magnetic material coating. What you do with it is your prerogative, and the alignment of the tracks was more often defined by the pickups available for them to use. So it is more about the same type of pickup head being used.

[@npartridge12]

Thank you for another fascinating video Techmoan and you instantly transported me back some 33 years ago to my student days as being registered blind I used one of these machines to study texts for my English degree at Cardiff University and indeed if it wasn't for one of these machines and the RNIB talking book service I would not have been able to successfully complete my degree course and go on to have a career at the BBC and subsequently in theatre management. But your video reminded me of making good use of one of these machines all those years ago, thanks for the nostalgia trip.

[@dashcamandy2242]

I'm not surprised to see how robust these decks are, nor am I surprised by the simplicity of its controls. Easy-grip handles with a wide spacing, a cabinet that was built for the rigors of daily life instead of flashy aesthetics, and at first glance it looks quite serviceable inside as well. Simple, reliable, durable, exactly what these units needed to be.

[@Intelwinsbigly]

@@MikehMike01 Shame leftists have been slowly denigrating western society.

[@solitairepilot]

Yet it doesn’t have brail on it…lol

[@Alpha8713]

It seems as if it should have had a fast-forward option, too, although I suppose that the user could accomplish the same thing by flipping the tape and selecting rewind.

[@tiramika]

@@solitairepilot not every blind person can read braille.

[@solitairepilot]

@@tiramika Many blind people can. That’s like saying we shouldn’t put English on roadsigns in America because some people only speak Spanish

[@Ranger_Kevin]

Fun fact: "Tapete" ist German for "Wallpaper". So I was confused when I first saw the video ^^

[@xPandamon]

@MomoTheBellyDancer He knows that. And yet it's confusing for a second. Got me to.

[@strawberryjam3670]

@MomoTheBellyDancer Its the way the mind works. Because when you're speaking German all the time, you're more used to those associations. So when in a foreign context you see a German word, or at least a familiar string of letters your brain jumps to that first association it has, which is usually in your mother tongue. So even in the context of techmoan, the first second of seeing that title you'll be thinking of that word.

[@rickhunter7]

Fun fact: "Tapete" is Spanish for "Rug". So I was confused when I first saw the video ^^

[@squabbbb]

@@rickhunter7 a German, a Spaniard and an audio engineer walk into a DIY store

[@numbers9to0]

@MomoTheBellyDancer The fact that Tapete is the German word for Wallpaper!

[@iamdarkyoshi]

"Aww man are you ever going to run out of formats?" "No, because I work at the format factory"

[@KurosakiYukigo]

An infinite supply of format tat.

[@dan_loup]

So you work at sony?

[@und4287]

The format factory has two manufacturing lines: one for the media, and one for the machines.

[@bobjones5166]

I've been an avid reader for over 50 years. About 25 years ago my sister introduced me to audio books and I became hooked. I could now listen to a book and carry on about my day. I no longer had to make time to just sit and read. My book library has been overgrown by my collection of cassette tapes, DVD's and flash drives. I have at least a dozen different types of devices made to listen to audio books. I must admit I do miss the quiet time of just sitting and reading and so have had to add that back into my life. I spend almost every woken moment (that not spent listening to youtube videos) with a book being pumped into my head. My wife believes my headphones are nailed to my head. lol Audio books are the next best thing to sliced bread. :) Just my $0.02

[@Clell65619]

I've always heard about how wonderful audiobooks are, but for me, they are completely different from reading. Perhaps it's a symptom of how I just don't concentrate on audio. Having trained myself over the last 60 years to multitask while the radio is playing, enjoying the tunes while doing other things. I found that I wasn't following the story on the audiobook, and had to rewind to catch points I missed. I've never managed to get as submerged in the story of an audiobook as I routinely do in a text-based book. I realize that this is just me and that my experience likely doesn't translate over to others.

[@dannygroom3327]

My electronic engineer dad would service and repair those machines in the 80s and 90s on a voluntary basis.

[@babbetteduboise4284]

I came here for a technology discussion. I got a delightful memory of my youth too. Dennis Wheatley was the author of the book!! I'll have to find that book to read it. When he was very old,and I was 12, I sent him a fan letter and got a personal reply. Double win.

[@MoultrieGeek]

Very interesting article on Wikipedia about Dennis Wheatley and his role in Churchill's Joint Planning Staff during WWII and the genesis of Roger Brook. The more you know...

[@gavincurtis]

Using the flywheel as a bell is absolute engineering genius. A lazy design, each component does only one thing. A well thought design, each component may serve multiple functions.

[@Ghozer]

I remember these, as my mum is Registered Blind, (as are most of my family, i'm a lucky one) - they had all sorts of gadgets and gizmo's including these... My Mum had a slightly more advanced version though, with variable speed control, she could make it 'read' faster, get through books quicker :D I'll ask around the family if anyone still has any of the old cartridge/tapes... :) Great vid xD

[@deusexaethera]

I don't mean to be rude with this question, but I have to ask: How does your family even exist if most of them are blind? How do they earn a living and thus prove their worth to potential mates? I'm sure they are charming people, but being charming doesn't pay the bills.

[@Ghozer]

​ @Shawn Elliott You can work when blind/partially sighted etc you know, companies put provisions in place etc... That and not ALL are blind, just the majority....

[@Savannah_Simpson]

@@deusexaethera You sound charming yourself🙄. Seriously though try not being an asshole. Not sure how you function when that’s how you interact with people.”How do they earn a living and thus to prove their worth to potential mates”. That’d fucking earn you a punch from many disabled people I know, or their family.

[@deusexaethera]

@@Savannah_Simpson: I'm not asking about a disabled person, I'm asking about an _entire family_ of disabled people. How do a bunch of people who all have the same _inheritable_ disability decide to have children who are doomed to inherit that same disability? I'd be pretty fucking angry if I found out my parents knew their kids would be doomed to be born blind but decided to have kids anyway.

[@deusexaethera]

​@@Ghozer: I'm really not trying to be a jerk, but I really can't imagine what kind of work someone could do if they can't see at all. If they're extremely nearsighted, that's a different story because that can be corrected with optics. I admit I've only come across a few truly blind people in my life, and always in public places. None of them worked for my highly-inclusive employers, who work on government contracts and pride themselves on hiring a diverse workforce. I know one person who developed severe glaucoma in their 20s and lost their sight, and they stopped working and live on government disability payments. So I have no experience with what kind of work blind people are capable of doing. Furthermore, I swore to myself to be an endpoint for the problems I grew up with, and I spent decades working through them before considering having a family, so I struggle to imagine people deciding to willingly pass on an inheritable disability to children. If any of my problems had been inheritable, I'd have at least tried to find a fertility lab that could fertilize a few egg cells and filter-out the ones with the genes I didn't want to pass on, but more likely I would've opted to not have children at all.

[@neilldehaan2522]

I remember these very well from the late 60s as my grandmother was blind and would get her regular delivery of talking books, which she loved. I always helped her choose from the catalogue (the narrator was as important as the content as there were some readers whose voice she really disliked). The machines were very sturdy; the controls never felt like they would break and the cartridges were easy for my nan to use even though she was elderly. I loved to listen to the books with her and used to post them back after we had finished with them. Seeing them again has been a nice reminder of childhood days with my wonderful nan.

[@MrChrisStarr]

My Mother was blind, recognised it straight away! I remember books arriving, but also the local newspaper in Harlow Essex was delivered on this format!

[@MrChrisStarr]

@Jon Goat I recall that it was a summary, covering more than one week. I going back to the late 70's here so a bit vague!

[@hztm]

@Jon Goat The newspaper I received today said : "Man walked on the moon !"

[@angolin9352]

How did she recognize it on a 2D picture displayed on a screen?

[@AureliusR]

@@angolin9352 ha, ha, ha. very funny, pedantic man.

[@jansalomin]

@@angolin9352 You can be blind and not be totally blind

[@djackmanson]

Interesting! I’m guessing that the track changer only functioning on every second push is because it’s simpler to instruct users to push it every single time they turn the tape over, rather than have them wonder if they need to push it this time or not.

[@blinx88pl]

This makes sense, I was wondering what was the point of pressing it each time.

[@kaitlyn__L]

especially if you stopped in the middle of a session and didn't remember if you'd pressed it last time or not! and the tape itself doesn't know if it's synchronised with your machine, if you're jumping from book to book depending on your mood.

[@TheFeldhamster]

Exactly. One of the first rules of human machine interaction - make the UI consistent. Very nicely done in my opinion.

[@eDoc2020]

In my opinion this system can be more confusing. Imagine somebody came in and pressed the button when you weren't around. Now the head moves when it's supposed to be a discarded press, and the head doesn't move when it's supposed to. You'd end up playing the tracks out of order. I think it's more sensible for the head to move with every press. Then you'd just follow the instruction recorded on the tape, simply flipping and pressing only if it says to.

[@dhpbear2]

@@eDoc2020 Perhaps a warning should have been added to the tape: "This machine and tapes are intended for one specific user" :)

[@SingleTrack66]

My dad used to service and repair these years ago. I’ve sent him this video, he’ll love it and could probably have explained this to you. Great video. 👍🏻

[@matthewsmatters]

As a visually impaired person and user of the talking books library, this has to be my favourite video that you have published! This format missed my millennial youth. I was a member of another audio library, that used standard cassettes. Take my word though, format frustrations have not been left behind by the library in the digital age. It remains a service, and right to read, that really does change lives. I know all too many visually impaired peopke ignorant of the library’s existence, who do not read, or pay over the odds to buy audiobooks or subscribe to Audible, because they know nothing else, and have no other choice (but for audio). Then there is the Braille debate - but I’ll park this comment now. Thank you.

[@karalouise18]

Thanks so much for doing this. Since I’m blind and from the UK I’m very familiar with these but knew nothing about how they worked or even what they were called. I just assumed they were the regular 8-track tapes that were popular in the US, having only heard about those. When I joined the talking book service they had switched to DAISY but I knew people that had these machines, albeit the slightly more modern version you mentioned. BTW DAISY is worth its own video.

[@squidge125]

Having that voice telling you the tracks as you rewind- would have been a gamechanger on normal tapes!

[@stilts121]

I thought the same thing. There's a saying in accessibility that assistive tech or things like curb cuts may be made for the disabled, but everyone benefits!

[@Gannett2011]

I went to a school for the visually impaired in the late 70s/80s. We had an audio encyclopedia for the blind which came on I think it was 16 tapes. You could use the play+rewind or fast forward and it would play an index. As you listened to the entries on the tape, you could hear the very slowed down voice of the index markers in the background!

[@MetalTrabant]

Yeah, then I wouldn't have to randomly stop and play many times just to check which song I'm at when I was fast forwarding/rewinding the tape.

[@Siarawaszympanemjest]

I liked the old system, because it encouraged listening to full albums, which required mastering technicians to arrange the songs in a way to have a coherent, smooth listening experience from one song to another. I like the idea of an album as a whole instead of a collection of songs.

[@patrickjohnson5658]

I remember my brother had a radio recorder deck in 1990 which had AMSS which could automatically stop on a selected music track by detecting the silence between the tracks.

[@egemenkayabasi2759]

Dear Techmoan, I am now 100% convinced that you will never run out of obsolate audio formats to make videos about. Thank you.

[@ZGryphon]

"Talking Bulk" will be my stage name when I embark on a career as a spoken-word performing artist. It struck me that neither the controls on the device nor the tapes seemed to be labeled in Braille. I guess the expectation was that somebody sighted would set it up? I'm sure a person could learn what the controls did by touch pretty easily, particularly since they were so big and widely separated, but figuring out which tape was which and which side to start on would have required an annoying amount of trial and error.

[@daredaemon8878]

Braille labelling isn't always necessary, and not all blind people can read braille to begin with; which is especially common amongst people who became blind later in life. You wouldn't want a device like this to be inaccessible to people who can't read braille. That's why the tape has explicit instructions and tells you which book it is right at the start, that's why the controls are big and chunky, and that's why the label that's on only one side of the tape is such a thick and sturdy label, helps with identifying which side is which. All things that are trivial to pick up once you get used to the system and which don't rely on braille.

[@scaper8]

@@daredaemon8878 Certainly understandable and foreword thinking on their part, but given that Braille is the recognized standard it still seems odd to not include it _along_ with the audio prompts, large, well-spaced controls, and label design.

[@michaelfingers7726]

I wonder if it was because hardly anyone was using Braille in that part of the world at that time. I can't link the article but there's one I found from a quick google search from the BBC in 2012 that even then only %1 or so of sight challenged or blind people were using Braille. Although the addition couldn't have cost too much time or money. What really makes me scratch my head is the lack of large font on the carts or the player for those who aren't completely without sight.

[@ZGryphon]

For the record, I didn't mean I was surprised it wasn't ONLY labeled in Braille. And I may have been conditioned by the ubiquity of same over here in the States, where--I kid you not--drive-up ATMs often have Braille instruction panels on them.

[@techno1561]

Dare Daemon Even if they didn't use Braille, you would think that they would have a distinguishing mark on the controls to make it easier to use for the blind. For instance, someone who was blind might have problems with the tone and volume controls because they seem to be basically identical.

[@grayfool]

I've seen a couple of these machines in use as I used to work with several blind people during the nineties. As the move to digital books took place, I helped a few people adapt their PCs to use as readers. It was quite a task when using Windows 95/97 as you had to integrate some very cumbersome screen reading software into the system. This has got far easier as the operating systems develops thank goodness. Very interesting to hear more about the history of these great machines. Thanks.

[@MotorbikeHamster]

My Granny lost alot of her sight late on and had one of these systems. I remember using it with her. It gave her lots of joy.

[@turtlecatpurrz]

Thanks for showing this! I’m a blind American and used the 4-track compact cassettes as a child. I have always been curious about the ways other countries did things. Your channel is one where I try to never miss an upload.

[@shadowmixx]

OMG! Techmoan has done it again. Yet "another" format that I have never seen. LOL! Thank you Sir. #Peace

[@batlin]

I was almost disappointed when that perfect transition to doing a sponsored plug for Audible actually turned out not to be an ad. Such a missed opportunity!

[@G1itcher]

Really appreciating these weekly videos. Something to look forward to!

[@noelmajers6369]

My grandmother, when she lived with my family, used to borrow one of these from the local library (I think they either rented or lent the player). She wasn't blind but was quite elderly - in her '90s - and didn't have her own TV but she preferred to borrow the taped books which she could listen to at her leisure. The library were quite happy to lend these to anyone who wanted to use them although it's possible she may have needed a medical note. She was actually quite good at getting the NHS to fulfil her needs and even got the docter to prescribe a bottle of Guinness evey week and I also remember that she managed to get everything delivered. The model in this YT video looks to be very similar to model that she used and I also remember the 'tapette' casettes. Further comment - the production values of the recording are excellent. Love the sound of Garard Green's voice !

[@RabStraith]

That was quite interesting, really enjoy hearing about these more obscure formats

[@brianhartgen]

This was a truly lovely video. I first had one of the machines which could play this format back in 1978 and enjoyed many books as a child and through later years using it. The audio indexing during rewind was very useful. When I started listening at night, I would take a mental note of the index number as often I would go to sleep. When I came back to the book, at least I knew approximately where to rewind back to. Great memories!

[@_techana]

Listening to tapes of any format always gives me a chill of nostalgia! It reminds me of the old long nights when tapes and books were my only entertainment.

[@peterblack1538]

This video brings tears of nostalgia to me as I grew up with one of these machines from about the age of 13 because of severe vision impairment. They were widely used across Australia where I live and I still remember the wonderful stories I heard on this format. Thank you for posting this!

[@alanroy]

I guess the head only has two wires because the frequency of the recording on the index tracks would be so low at normal playback, a high pass filter would remove the sound

[@Techmoan]

I’ll go along with that - I’m not at all clued up on this.

[@quertize]

Yes, rewind speed seems to be much higher than play speed. That's rather elegant way to shift complexity from player to tape mastering step.

[@daredaemon8878]

It'd also explain why the head for the index is so much wider, to ensure it gets a clear signal.

[@hegedusuk]

Not sure about that - the head moves about so the head for the index tracks would be over a regular speech track sometimes. Maybe if the gap between the index and the regular head was more than 1/4 inch apart, it would mean that the index head was always off the tape when the book was playing and the regular head was always off the tape when the index was playing.

[@alanroy]

@@hegedusuk that's a good point! Maybe the head resets when you fast wind?

[@sw2442]

Thank you this very informative video. My late Uncle Bobby used talking books provided to him by The Braille Institute. First, it was a record player with an 16 RPM speed option, then he transitioned to a (compact) cassette player in the mid-80's. He relied on those players until his passing in 2009. Thank you again...marvelous channel.

[@jdatlas4668]

Ooh, another obscure format! My day is getting off to a great start so far.

[@telekommotorrad9065]

Brilliant and fascinating, thank you. I worked at RNIB Transcription Centre in Glasgow In the late 90s, working with volunteers to produce recordings on request such as instruction manuals, books which had not yet been recorded, magazine articles or textbooks. All of our tapes were produced on compact cassette using standard Yamaha tape decks in a small recording booth. A small beeper was used to indicate a page turn. We had to check volunteer recordings for accuracy as a missed page or misread line would confuse the listener and cause copyright issues. Our volunteers were amazing, and mistakes were not that common. We checked the recordings on a mono cassette player with a speed control - you got used to listening at triple speed! I never saw a Tapete, but I did begin learning about the DAISY format which used XML to markup texts for a digital voice system. My favourite job was reading “A Description of the Western Isles” by Martin Martin from 1703!

[@MrBillmcminn]

In North America talking books for the blind used more mainstream formats such as records that spun at 16 2/3 RPM and 8 1/3 RPM. There was cassette that played at 15/16 IPS and played the each of the 4 tracks one after another after another to provide eight times the playback time. Radiotvphononut has done some excellent videos about these devices.

[@garethsmyth6593]

Hi there. Thank you for all of the videos on vintage equipment and other gadgets that you put up. I am a blind person myself and I remember away back many years ago are used to use talking books in that format cartridge that you were talking about. Listening to your video brings back some good memories. Thank you so much for sharing. Have a great day.

[@jhoughjr1]

We have “Free matter for the blind” here as well. My state Missouri has the Wolfner library that sends players and books to the blind

[@guyfellows2293]

what formats do/did they use?

[@bobblum5973]

@@guyfellows2293 My father got tapes and a free loaner machine from the Wolfner Library. In the 1980s and into the 1990s at least they used a compact cassette based system. The machines ran at half normal speed and only used a single track at a time, similar to what Techmoan showed for the Tapete. They could therefore get four times the audio duration on a cassette. You'd play track 1, flip the tape to play 2, flip again and use the track switch for 3, then flip again for track 4. You had to remember to change the track switch back for track 1 on the next tape. The players also supported variable speed control, so you could slow down the rate at which the narrator spoke to some extent, but that also affected the pitch. The cassette tapes themselves did have the raised Braille bumps on them. The player my Dad used was a semi-portable, if I recall it had rechargeable batteries and an AC line current cord as well. It was laid out like a portable cassette player, top loading, with piano-key buttons along the left front, and the audio and speed controls to the right, all on top. The tape motion control piano-keys had raised tactile indicator shapes like X, O, and >, plus they were different colors, allowing for both impaired vision and totally blind people to use it. My Dad would get books, but also periodicals like Time Magazine, and enjoyed them immensely.

[@bobblum5973]

UPDATE: Cassette Cold Turkey www.sos.mo.gov/WolfnerNewsFall2017 "Starting January 1st, 2018, Wolfner Library will no longer circulate books on cassette tape. The National Library Service project to convert the back catalog of books on cassette to digital media has concluded, and we are ready to clean out storage and make room for new materials in the collection." Follow that link and you'll see a picture of the big yellow player I described.

[@danielbooth5310]

@@bobblum5973 Hi Bob that sounds like a Telex talking Book Machine. They were pretty robust for devices with lots of moving parts. The main advantage was, as you said, having four tracks - which doubled the playing time of the cassette. They were easy to use and our members loved them when we had them in service. I just checked the link you had and yes, definitely a Telex. We had some in that colour but most were in an ugly deep blue green. We may still have some of the green cassette containers in the picture in our collection. We are currently sharing parts of our audio collection with NLS at the moment.

[@bobblum5973]

@@danielbooth5310 Thanks for your response, glad to get more details! Telex does sound right for the model, it's been 25 years since my Dad passed away so I haven't seen the unit since then. I'm familiar with the Telex brand name from their audio gear such as headsets and microphones back around the 1970s or so at least.

[@carlwilson8456]

Hi Mat, Watching this video brings me back to a time in my youth. In America we have a similar program for the blind and learning disabled. I used to be a member and get my textbooks and regular audiobooks supplied to me because I had a learning disability. The player I had looked like a regular cassette player but the cassettes had four tracks on them. You would play the cassette normally, first you would play side “A” flip the tape over play side “B” and then to access track three and four you flip the tape back to side A again. There was a switch on the player that would turn it to select the track 3 and 4 you would play side “A” and then you would flip the tape over again to play track 4. During fast forward and rewinding there was a vocalization to tell you what chapter you were on and also beeps to let you know what page you were on. I remember it was a nightmare to find a specific place in a textbook because I would listen to the tape and follow along in my book to maximize the amount of information I was gathering. Thanks for all the great videos.

[@Henchman1977]

It's only a matter of time before the RNIB investigator start dropping from black helicopters onto Techmoan's house....

[@johnruschmeyer5769]

Audiobook version of the Library Cop?

[@JXCReplay]

They'll have to look for him first

[@rog2224]

@@johnruschmeyer5769 They're more like the French Foreign Legion - and they once arrested a deserter in almost 60 years after he went AWOL.

[@steerpike9204]

Don't worry about the black helicopters! That's just the sheriffs secret police! It's the other helicopters we should worry about... All praise the glow-cloud. Don't let your children play near the helicopters..

[@johnruschmeyer5769]

@@steerpike9204 And don't go into the Dog Park.

[@NeeP94]

I just love these videos, explaining tech that I've never have seen before but each time it has an interesting story and purpose to it. It's just like diving into a new universe. Keep it up!

[@gustavefrankfurter6462]

Several decades ago I made an astonishing discovery at an estate sale. It was a box of magazines, all in Braille with obviously no pictures. A few of them were Playboy! For those wondering, no, you couldn't "feel" the centerfold! I no longer have them, but I think that the existence of Playboy for the blind was quite bizarre.

[@scekkel]

You know, for a long time I have been watching your videos, for several years in fact and somehow I haven't really seen any videos for quite a while, which is of course appalling on my part. You are simply very entertaining to listen to and without knowing a lot about the things you discuss on your channel I just wanted to say thanks for the information and entertainment. You never fail to make me interested in weird formats and hifi, a huge thanks from Denmark.

[@torchwoodcanaria]

My Grandmother had one of those, and I used to listen with her; it got me into a lot more writers!

[@RileyStanchina]

A belated congratulations on 1 Million subscribers. You are among the KZbin elite. I have learned a great deal from watching your videos, and found much enjoyment as well. Thank you for all you do!

[@OrangeHarrisonRB3]

I never knew my electric typewriter ribbon refills had music on them. :O

[@typografiti]

Sir, this was yet another trademark video of yours. Your fan from past 6 years. I am anxiously waiting for the review of 'One of the best boom box ever made'. Thank you.

[@WouterWeggelaar]

I do think it makes sense that the layout has the index tracks in the middle. It's playing while the tape speed is very high, so if the head coils are in parallel, just the frequency responses at the different speeds would mostly cancel out the other track. Note the geometry also supports this, with the "high speed" coil being stretched out

[@WouterWeggelaar]

@@johndododoe1411 very true, but that way I see two issues: - suboptimal head design for the tape speed. see the different widths of the slit in the head - added complexity to the frequency response of the recording equipment I think it would be very impractical to have a DC response that low for the recorder, and if recorded at higher speed there's other issues

[@WouterWeggelaar]

@@johndododoe1411 I got that! just for completeness, but yes, you're absolutely right

[@captianbubble]

Is that why the pitch is a little higher or the speed is a little higher well announcing what indexes passing?

[@captianbubble]

@@johndododoe1411 oh I see.

[@heatherr0420]

Because of this channel, if I ever have the money, I am going to buy every kind of obscure audio, video, or electronic device I can get my hands on. The stuff is just so darn cool

[@Kaeltis]

For a second I thought this video was about Wallpaper (Tapete in German)

[@wh0istim]

same 😂

[@Simufreund309]

Yep, me too

[@lakrids-pibe]

Lyd-tapet (background music)

[@duskonanyavarld1786]

Is the same in Swedish but I never thought about it.

[@Kirifairy]

@MomoTheBellyDancer And what would be an obscure audio format? A wallpaper that plays audio if you use some sort of device on it. And if this wallpaper would come from germany, it could be named "music" tapete.

[@enquiryplay]

You truly are the King of obscure media formats!

[@moohaad]

You brought some old memory, my father who was blind had one of these.

[@750kv8]

Using the big flywheel as the bell is really cute! The way it works reminds me to stereo-8 a lot.

[@generalgk]

I wouldn’t have been able to resist using the title “The enduring audio format you (probably) haven’t seen”

[@Fuzy2K]

"The enduring video format you (probably) haven't smelled" :P

[@pumello]

This system genuinely is quite genious when you think about how the tracks work. Well done on the video techmoan

[@PeterCamberwick]

Wow! I was hoping you'd get round to this one eventually. :) I have many happy memories of using that machine in the early to late 90s. I've been blind all my life, but it wasn't until I was about 10 or 11 when we got one of these. I never new the format was called Tapete. It was always just referred to as a cartridge. I remember my parents being a bit nonplused when it arrived because they thought it looked a bit ancient. It probably wasn't, it just looked like it. Up until then, I was only familiar with cassettes and vinyl. CD's were just starting to come in to our house. We were always a bit behind the times, as we didn't have money to fritter if you see what I mean. SO I was fascinated with this new format. I never did get around to working out how the tracks were arranged. But anyhow, it was a major nostalgia trip, hearing you press the track change button and waiting for the bell to go ting. Haha. Plus, of course I knew exactly what you were going to say about the surprising feature of the rewind. :) It must be over 20 years since I've felt that machine, but I remember it in exact detail. And to me at the time, it sure felt like a monster. Thanks for another classic. :)

[@tenmillionvolts]

Here in New Zealand, they were called cartridges too. I remember helping my mother to feel the machine and explaining to her what the levers did. Once she got the hang of it, I'd cue up a book for her and head off to school. That was about 1981

[@PeterCamberwick]

@@tenmillionvolts I remember the particular clunk they would make dropping through the letter box in the wallets. That was always exciting. I also remember ploughing through the enormous braille catalogues to find new titles. It really was a splendid service, especially for the time. But, I think the reason why I thought it was so cool, was because it was different, and just for us, if you see what I mean. Haha

[@timgiebel]

Great video as always :-) I am totally blind, and enjoy collecting and repairing boomboxes, and other vintage audio, and various tape formats. I’m only 25, so didn’t use this talking book machine much myself, but I do remember my mum (who is also blind) owning one. I was always fascinated by the fact there was a voice counting down when the tape was rewound, and I always wondered how that was achieved, I always presumed it was a voice built into the machine, so it was fascinating to learn that it was actually recorded on one of the tape tracks! I don’t know if my mum’s talking book machine was older or newer than the one you have, but the track select lever was a multiposition lever, rather than something you pressed, and it didn’t have a bell. The other strange quirk I remember with that machine was that you needed to be ready to stop the tape when the counting got to 0, otherwise the machine would spool the tape off the end!

[@CandGoods]

That first talking-book-tape really reminds me of the Tefifon, at least in general cartridge-shape with rounded top-flat bottom.

[@RadioJonophone]

It contained two spools, one on top of the other.

[@GuentherB.]

What a great idea and a beautiful machine. I have never seen such a device and these tapes before. Thank you for showing and demonstrating!

[@typhoon2099]

Ooh, all the way up to Orkney! Always disappoints me when Shetland gets cut off of maps of the UK though. Can I send you something obscure to fix that?

[@adhodgson1]

This was my first talking book machine. I had the model from 1996. In this model, you only need to change the track switch once you reached side one again, i.e., once per side. That should confirm your original theory about how that works. Some of the books even had narration on it to say that if you had the new type of machine from the 90s, don’t press the track change switch.

[@EvanCoonrod]

How interesting! A person who is blind wouldn't be able to see a track number indicator, so they designed the device to "remember" whether it's playing an odd track or an even track so the user doesn't need to know when to press the button and when to just flip the tape. That's an affordance that would really only work when a single organization controls the players, the media, and the recording- if there had been a third-party building those devices they would have been tempted to simplify that track advance mechanism, and then all of the first-party tapes that tell you to press the advance button on every track would have been wrong.

[@mx0r]

This UX is probably THE reason. It is simpler to just repeat the same motion on a track change than to think which side is playing. What I really lack on the device (and casettes) are braille writings. I assume, the levers were distinct enough, but still...

[@jefemuga416]

second video I watch from your channel and I am continued to be impressed. I like your content, the pace, and the editing but I am most impressed by your skill and knowledge. Thank you for passing it on. Keep up the good work. Greetings from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

[@cheaterman49]

Whoa, didn't even notice we were on crackle-free mode. This device REALLY sounds good! Very impressive considering (as I understand it) the tape moves slowly and the tracks are small to allow the longer recordings! EDIT: What I actually came here to say is, thanks Matt for giving us at least a crackle-free sample so that we could judge the audio quality, and sorry for the Mrs if she had to interrupt her work for us :-3

[@garrygadget]

I joined Royal mail in 1986 and I remember these tapes coming through our sorting office, we always made sure that they were sorted as a priority as we knew how important these were. We also had braille newspapers and books through.

[@Graemebo2008]

Have one and loads of tapes from when I was a kid, had loads of audio books from the RNIB.

[@Techmoan]

If you have some of these carts I'd be interested in acquiring a few you don't want any more.

[@bobbobson4069]

I just love TechMoan's videos, especially the historical descriptions. I love learning something new through his well researched and well spoken summaries of tech history. Brilliant as always!

[@DasGanon]

Techmoan: \*makes an excellent video about a British books for the blind format* Germans: "I must tell you about ze wallpaper"

[@threelaps5282]

That was a blast from the past. Back in the early 70s, Dad bought one of the MK1 tape machines (1:29) from a junk shop in London, threw away the cartridge player and fitted a BSR reel to reel deck so I had a tape player. A bit later he added the necessary bits to turn it into a recorder. It out-performed all my friends' crummy cassette machines of the time...

[@ThiagoLc06]

Fun fact: "Tapete" is portuguese for "carpet". So I was confused when I first saw the video ^^

[@jrmcferren]

The US tape system used a compact cassette with 4 tracks running at 15/16 IPS vs the normal 1 7/8 IPS. "Sides" 1 and 2 played when in the 1&2 side position and Sides 3&4 played when in the 3/4 position. Playback was by a standard stereo head with the side switch simply changing channels on the head. I'm not sure how or if Indexing worked on this method. On some of our slower speed talking book records, a subaudible tone is recorded that becomes audible when the record player is increased to 33 1/3 RPM. Talking books were first 33 1/3, then 16 2/3, followed by 8 1/3. One of the reasons for the 8 1/3 RPM speed was due to the availability of players with a 16 2/3 RPM position as the Library of Congress' National Library Service is required to make talking books available in an Incompatible format. These days, they have electronic cartridge machines and a download format as well. KZbin User RadioTVPhonoNut has some videos about the American equipment as he is both legally blind and a collector of said equipment.

[@xaenon]

I knew about the four-track half-speed cassette system, and the various speeds of phonograph records. I was not aware of the 'incompatible format' requirement of Library of Congress and I'm confused - those machines did have a 16-2/3 rpm setting, which would seem to imply that some Library of Congress talking books were released in the 16-2/3 rpm format. Could you clarify that?

[@jrmcferren]

​@@xaenon The requirement of the agreement between the Library of Congress National Library Service and the publishers required that talking book records to be made in a way that couldn't be played on standard phonographs and cassettes could not be played on standard cassette players. This meant that when the 33 and 1/3 speed and later the 16 2/3 speed came available on home phonographs, the talking book records had to be transitioned to a lower speed.

[@Robert-Wilson]

As how the indexing worked on the 4 track cassette. It was a beep that could be heard a fast fwd and rewind. On the Machine while the book is being recorded a button could be pressed for like two seconds and it wouldn’t bet a cone on a tight but it was too low of a frequency for you to hear while the tape was playing some people could discern a low rumble during normal playback but the trick was at a faster speed of rewind or fast forward it could be heard as a standard beep.

[@filipbarski6990]

The 1947 player seems to be using Decca XMS pick-up high quality for the time

[@wizardgherkin]

I'd expect the blind to place particular emphasis on the quality of the reproduction of the spoken voice.

[@filipbarski6990]

@@wizardgherkin so it seems, this could have beeen a huge quality leep from a shellack thats played witk lower speed

[@dashcamandy2242]

@@wizardgherkin Good point. It's been proven that the loss of one sense causes the brain to compensate with an increase in the other senses.

[@komitadjie]

Man, that really sounds quite a lot better than I was expecting for such a low-speed format!

[@smacksalad]

Wow, Shellac records go way back. I didnt realise Steve Albini was so old!

[@rickm.2956]

Who else wishes they could hang out with Mat? He always brightens my day.

[@iamwavingnotdrowning]

7:00 open up the machine... Wooohooooo!

[@CoreyDWillis]

Just when I think I've learned about every obscure audio or video format, you blow my mind again!

[@christophermorin9036]

5:40 "And unsurprisingly, these pads have..." Me: Perished Techmoan: "...Rotted Away" Me: *Surprised Pikachu face.jpg*

[@leromerom]

Extraordinary the depth you go into each of your videos. Thank you!

[@sebastiannielsen]

The reason for the format to be "obscure" is not only to implement certain accessibility features like the rewinding index, but also to prevent unauthorized use. Due to copyright, books recorded for the purpose of helping people with disabilities to be able to enjoy books, may not be used by unauthorized people. So thats why they have a "weird format". By requiring a specific machine to be able to use the books, you could have strict background checks when signing the contract for the machine, but once in, you could get the tapes very easily in the mail without problems. Same with the daisy player for example. However, some audiobooks for the blind were recorded on normal casettes, and to get these, you had to sign a strict agreement that nobody else than the disabled person and his assistants may be present to listen. And everytime you wanted to loan such books, you had to bring the ID card to the library and not just the library card (otherwise, the library card is enough), and returning such audiobooks in the self service chute were prohibited, you had to be present at opening times, and you had to have your ID card with you to return aswell - just to ensure that the media is not used by unauthorized. This is to prevent loaning out the casettes or library card, because it was solely for the disabled. With the machines however, it was not a big problem if one unauthorized did listen in, because the machines was clumsy, even the "portable" ones. Thats also why you wasn't allowed to buy the machine, but it was instead loaned. Baiscally, the copyright law allows a organization for the disabled, to copy media into formats that helps disabled people enjoy the media, for free, without license, but then it must be a catch, and the catch is that the availability of the media must be restricted to those in need.

[@eDoc2020]

Is that a real reason? While the cartridges are unusual I'd think it would be easy to play back the raw tape on a more common machine. It would only stop casual misuse. But then again, casual misuse is all you can really protect against, with everything from these tapes to digital rights management to even physical locks.

[@sebastiannielsen]

@@eDoc2020 Yes it was the causual misuse it was about. Deliberate misuse could be countered legally, but it was more like, so you can't lend the cartridge to a friend which is non-blind. Or more - a friend picking up and using a cartridge. Its such a harmless action - lend out a cartridge - even if the agreements are you are to not absolutely lend out the cartidges. But if you also have to lend out a hunk of steel on top of that, it is more kind of clear you shouldn't lend it out. Also note - you lended the tapes, so you couldn't modify the tapes to fit into a normal tape machine without getting into trouble. Thats also why some media just have a obscure format as "copy protection", like some CD systems having a non-standard auto format with something simple, like flipped bits, just to prevent causual copying as in putting the CD into a computer and ripping it. If people then start reverse-engiinering och circumventing the protection, they cannot claim they didn't know they did something illegal. Its like the difference of pulling on a handle to check if a door is locked, versus picking the lock. The first one is legal (provided you had a valid reason to visit the room in question), the second is not as picking a lock is obviously breaking and entering. It would have been enough to use normal casette tapes, but omitting a hole on the cartridges, that were present on normal tapes, so you would need to drill a hole in the lended tapes for it to fit a normal casette desk. BUT - then people would just cut off the pin which goes into that hole, on their tape machines, and just claim "I only modified MY tape machine that I bought and own myself, to play these blind-tapes". By having a completely different tape format which doesn't even physically fit into the machine, its more clear that you do something wrong, if you try to modify or circumvent anything.

[@gorsefan]

Wonderful stuff, thank you. It's also a great example of how assistive technologies can also be useful for those they were not initially intended for, as you allude to at the end of the video.

[@twocvbloke]

My eldest brother had one of these machines (he was registered blind, due to complications caused by marfan syndrome in his eyes), I never knew what it was specifically, just that it looked "weird", nice to know what it was now... :)

[@timfoley3189]

I have had a couple few drinks but this is about the coolest tape thingy I've seen you cover Sir! Thank you.

[@nonroadusr]

I'm looking for Fly Fishing by J. R. Hartley. is it available on this talking book tape format? My name? Oh, yes, it's J. R. Hartley.

[@roboftherock]

Ah, another trip down memory lane. Who remembers 'Award yourself a CDM'? (Cadbury's Dairy MIlk}

[@Zerbey]

I used to record church services for our local nursing home as it also specialised in helping blind people. We used regular compact cassettes but I remember seeing some of the residents using these machines as well. As you said, everyone should be able to enjoy a good book even if they can't see it.

[@jishan6992]

I still wonder how techmoan has enough space in his house for all the electronics he reviews and showcases.

[@mikewosowski342]

This is my current issue. Damn you value village and thrift stores haha

[@gangwaygamer8831]

He owns the warehouse from the end of "Raiders of the Lost Ark".

[@FiXato]

He's British, so of course he has his personal TARDIS hidden away somewhere, where he keeps all these things. ;)

[@AfferbeckBeats]

He's got the warehouse full of boxes from Raiders of the Lost Ark, curated by Top Men. Some speculate that the place may even generate obscure audio formats that never were.

[@eivind-falk]

He doesn't, which is why he built a new recording studio and storage in his garden. He has videos on it.

[@hegedusuk]

Fascinating and as usual, really well put together. You go the extra mile to delve deep into the ins and outs of these things and that’s what makes your KZbin channel stand out, so thanks.

[@SomeNot]

I was really expecting an audible ad at the end. They probably would’ve sponsored you as well if you said you were making this video.

[@Thermalions]

I can't recall ever having seen an ad on any of Mat's videos (although I've YT premium so it would only be baked in sponsorships I'd see). Given the money Mat (and his Patreons) must spend to bring us this wonderful history I'd be quite happy for him to accept sponsors.

[@duskonanyavarld1786]

I use this service in Sweden and we use an app in our phones nowadays so we don't need to move heavy tapes. We can also change the speed of the audio. Thank you Technoman for a new awesome video.

[@duskonanyavarld1786]

@Jon Goat Yes

[@mozamboni]

Can't imagine this sold particularly well in France with that name 😬

[@hztm]

Christine Boutin approuve ce message !

[@lostinspace1036]

So glad you hit a million!! You deserve it for your hard work and greatly informative videos. I wish more people were into learning, it would be better for everyone as a whole!

[@scrumtrellecent]

This is a journey into sound A journey which along the way will bring to you a new colour New dimension new value. When all is ready I throw this switch; Pump up the volume pump up the volume pump that beat.

[@tenmillionvolts]

Nice!

[@sethflix]

This is a wonderful video. I found myself entranced and completely engaged by the story of this tape mechanism. Thank you so much!

[@xiaoka]

The late fees from those tapes must be huge!

[@nowster]

I don't think there were any. You were only allowed a certain number of books out at one time, and had to send back the ones you had to receive more. The postage in both directions was free, too. New word for today: cecogram.

[@MrButtonpresser]

Maybe that's why Alexander lives in the Orkney Islands....he's on the run LOL

[@daggersdukc]

There weren't any late fees, you could only borrow, I think, three books in any one go. You'd return one, and another would drop through your door a few days later.

[@kailaz6683]

camera work is so superb these days. beautiful.