![]() Even after his retirement, Ottens remained a part of the technology world for many years when he became chairman of the Dutch Association for Logistics Management in 1988. Lou Ottens changed the music industry and the way we consumed and listened to music, his innovative and creative cassette tapes were eventually overtaken by the CD, something Ottens also had his hand in creating along with the rest of his team at Phillips. The cassette tape popularity peaked in the 70s and 80s and is even seeing a small resurgence in current days with pop artists releasing albums on tape, bringing a nostalgia factor which is also happening with vinyl. The portable cassette player was a worldwide phenomenon, with sales of tapes over 100 billion, allowing music fans to record tracks from the radio and listen to them whenever they wanted including on the go, a brand new concept for the time. Digital tapes were widely in use professionally but both media and players were so expensive. Of course those of us who grew up with the early days of personal computers also had a love hate relationship with the audio cassette. Basing the design of a block of wood that could fit into his jacket pocket, the EL 3300, the world’s first portable cassette tape. One of the aspects of Guardians of the Galaxy was the reference to the mix tape on cassette and the Walkman. The success allowed Ottens to build on the product and achieve his main goal of making tapes and their players more portable and easier to use. The product was a large success with sales passing over 1 million. In his esteemed position at Phillips, Lou Ottens led the development of the company’s first portable tape recorder, named the EL 3585. Today, it is estimated that more than 100 billion cassette tapes have been sold around the globe.Dutch pioneer and inventor, Lou Ottens had many successes during his life and is noticeably known for inventing the cassette tape while he was working to oversee the new products research and development department at Phillips. Lodewijk Frederik Ottens, who has born on 21 June 1926 sadly passed away on 6 March 2021 aged 94 in his hometown of Duizel, Netherlands. Countless punk acts, rock bands, and hip-hop artists all benefitted from the technology. Tapes also made it incredibly easy and affordable to record and share music – from bootlegged concerts to mixtapes. With Sony’s invention of the portable Walkman in 1979, cassette tapes quickly became the go-to format for music consumption. While the cassette and player were initially designed for dictation, the technology became widely embraced by the music industry in the 70s and 80s as the sound quality improved – replacing clunkier 8-tracks and becoming a viable alternative to vinyl LPs. ![]() ![]() In the US, the innovative technology was unveiled in November 1964, alongside a machine to play and record the tapes. ![]() The very first “compact cassette tape,” which used magnetic tape for playback and recording, debuted at the 1963 Berlin Radio Show. Seeking to find a less expensive and more compact answer to reel-to-reel tapes, Ottens came up with his design at the Dutch technology company, Philips, where he served as the head of product development. According to NRC Handelsblad, Ottens passed away on Saturday, March 6. Lou Ottens, a Dutch engineer who invented the cassette tape, has died at the age of 94.
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