What happens when nostalgia combines with nostalgia? Easy answer: peak hipster.
This is exactly what (surprise surprise) Urban Outfitters may have finally laid claim to with its latest pseudo retro music player, the cassette-playing record player. Yes, you read that right. The frequently controversial, always insensitive purveyor of all things kitsch, has added the “Ion Duo Deck Digital Conversion Turntable With Cassette Deck” to its lineup of record players.
Th $99(US) priced item is quite simple to grasp…essentially a mini turntable (infact, just about as small as a vinyl player can be. leaving playing records quite exposed) with a cassette deck embedded in its shell. Almost certainly not the best quality to listen to either medium, the 4AA battery powered device is being marketed as (per Gizmodo) “an easy way to convert classic vinyl and forgotten audio cassettes to MP3 files through iTunes,” which is odd considering the company also actively markets stand alone vinyl, as well as $2 “nostalgic 90 minute” Maxell cassette tapes.
It’s hard to place blame of irrelevancy here, whether it is the low quality products of Ion Audio or the continued forcing of retro inspired “culture” by Urban Outfitters but the company, which was once the top seller of Vinyl in (at least) the US, surely will have no problem opening up this new area of desire to all those looking for increased hipster credibility.
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Source: Chip Chick
