Andrew Cullen ’14 | Staff Writer

The future is here. After countless hours of research, scientists have made the most important creation in the history of everything ever known to man. It’s not a robot, it’s not a new iPhone, it’s better than those. It’s a cassette tape.

Sony recently unveiled a new cassette tape technology, according to Forbes. The company presented a cassette tape that uses magnetic tape to store information, and it is capable of storing 148 gigabytes per inch. The whole cassette can hold about 180 terabytes of data. That’s a lot.

To give an idea of how much storage this is, most computers use hard drives that store about 500 gigabytes. That’s enough for most people to store all of their documents, photos, music, movies, and other miscellaneous things. one terabyte is 1024 gigabytes. 180 terabytes is equal to 184,320 gigabytes. It is enough storage to hold around 47.3 million songs, according to CNN.

In order to achieve such a high storage capacity in such a small package. Sony made use of a new technology, according to CNN. They basically shrunk the magnetic particles on the tape to increase the capacity. They call it “sputter deposition”.

This cassette technology will most likely not be used in the mainstream market, according to CNN. Magnetic tape is slower than traditional hard drives, and it takes longer to save and retrieve data. This technology will most likely be used as a means of backing up large amounts of data.

Magnetic tape could be a feasible option for data centers. Conventional hard drive data centers consume about 200 times more energy than an equivalent tape storage arrangement, according to Forbes.

The use of cassette tapes to store data could have a major impact on society as we know it. Hipsters are already a major problem, what with their vinyl records and such. Imagine a new movement of neo-hipsters capable of storing 180 terrabytes worth of obscure music into a single cassette tape. The future is looking grim.

The technology could also be used for good, though. Think of the possibilities for mix tapes. No longer will people be limited to eight songs on a single cassette. It’s possible to confess your feelings toward that special someone in 47.3 million songs. The opportunities are endless.

That’s assuming people still make mix tapes.