Lou Ottens, inventor of audio tape cassettes and CDs, passes away at 94

Inventor of audio cassettes Lou Ottens, who also engineered the concept of magnetic  tape players and the computer discs (CDs) died on Sunday aged 94. The Dutch founder of the reel to reel tapes cassettes breath his last in Duizel, the Netherlands, Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad  reported, without citing the cause of his death. Ottens founded the cassettes in1960s when he was employed with tech giant Philips. He unveiled what went on to be called a cassette at a radio Berlin exhibition, which led to the invention of the first reel-to-reel walkman in 1963. 

The late engineer also struck a deal between Sony and Philips to manufacture cassettes feasible for the portable tape recorders, according to the newspaper, which prompted Japanese electronic companies to produce the iterations of similar looking models with varying sizes. Ottens, however, managed to sell approximately 100 billion units worldwide and also reached a deal to patent the model of the audio cassettes that were widely selling in the market. Although, it was reported that nearly a decade later when Sony revolutionized the concept of music system by manufacturing a portable, small sized  and consumer friendly walkman, Otten was disappointed that it wasn’t Philips that hooked on the idea. ‘It still hurts that we didn’t have one,’ Ottens was reported saying to the press back then.  

[Image Credit: @ClassicPixs]

A  'down to earth' engineer

According to Amsterdam based NRC Handelsblad newspaper, Ottens was widely renowned as ‘a down to earth engineer’ in the media, who always wondered why people still celebrated lo-fi cassette concept. On the format’s 50th anniversary, the Philips’ director of audio told the journal’s reporter that he had tried to conceptualize the standards of cassettes to meet challenges of changing technology in 80s by manufacturing the CDs.

"When your time has gone, it’s time to disappear,” he was quoted saying. Otten's journey has been adapted into the documentary titled, Cassette: A Documentary Mixtape. In the movie, the engineer talks about how he had aspired his technology to be a success more than a revolution. His colleague, Willy Leender told a conference in 2016 that the documentary Cassette has not been flattering for Lou, as he had often joked that the csassettes were born due to the clumsiness of a "very clever man". Ottens had also infused the idea of recording tape on blank cassette from Vinyl records to meet demads of newer generation. 

(Image Credit: Twitter/@moodvintage)