The end of automotive cassette players

The last factory installed cassette player was in a 2010 Lexus. [Link]

The cassette tape was warmly received in the 1970s, and it co-existed for decades with CD hardware. In the 21st century millions of drivers are still attached to their tape libraries — the homemade party mix tapes as well as store-bought titles — that provided durable, portable alternatives to vinyl records and eight-tracks, neither of which were practical to record at home.

That nostalgic affection for tape holds no sway with automakers, though. For the 2011 model year, no manufacturer selling cars in the United States offers a tape player either as standard equipment or as an option on a new vehicle. The most recent choice for a factory cassette deck was the 2010 Lexus SC 430.

“Lexus was the last holdout,” said Phil Magney, vice president for automotive research for the IHS iSuppli Corporation, a firm that does technology industry analysis. “We actually stopped tracking cassette players in cars some time ago. Now the question the automakers are asking is, how long has the CD got to go?”

The answer may lie in the progressive ascendancy of the digital music device, especially those using the MP3 and similar file formats, as the preferred source of music in cars. TheiPod and its ilk are easing the journey along the path to the increasingly popular concept of file storage known as the cloud — that place in the Internet ether from which music is streamed, generally through a Web-connected mobile device that communicates with the car by a wireless Bluetooth connection.

“We went from radio to tape to optical and then to flash memory or a hard disc drive, and now we’re moving away from memory and to storage of our tunes in the cloud,” said Mike Kahn, director for mobile electronics of Sony Electronics.

It’s nothing radically new: Ford’s Sync infotainment system, developed with Microsoft, employs a similar technology, and at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month, a host of carmakers, including General Motors, Mini and Toyota, showed off similar streaming options.

Among the choices offered by Sync is Pandora Internet radio, a cloud-based service that lets users customize music programming to their preferences. In many of these systems, the Bluetooth pathway streams content from a smartphone. An app specific to the particular source is downloaded to the smartphone, enabling it to communicate with the in-car system.

The director of industry analysis at the Consumer Electronics Association, Steve Koenig, expects carmakers to continue to support CDs while at the same time marketing USB connectivity for portable players and in-dash slots to accommodate flash memory cards that hold tunes. Eventually, he expects, automakers will shift to Internet radio services.

I have a cassette player in my car that is only used with an adapter to play my iPhone. I don't even use the 6 disc changer with it anymore. I want to replace it with a new head unit that does Bluetooth for phone and streaming audio. Besides being cooler, not having to plug anything in would be nice.

Something like this: Sony Xplod MEX-BT2900

If you want a car stereo that makes your life a little easier, consider Sony's MEX-BT2900 CD receiver. Its built-in Bluetooth® technology lets you keep your eyes on the road when you're taking a call on your phone — just press a button and talk to callers as if they're sitting next to you. The receiver's built-in microphone picks up your voice, as you hear your caller through your car's speakers. Plus, you can stream music from a compatible audio device straight into this Sony, no wires needed.