Lou Ottens holding an audio cassette poses for a photo in 1988. (Philips Company Archives via AP)
March 11, 2021
Inventor of the audio cassette, Lou Ottens, has died
Lou Ottens, the inventor of the audio cassette, which revolutionised how we consume music, has died.
The Dutch inventor passed away on Saturday. He was 94.
Ottens’ passing was confirmed by Philips,
the developer of the compact disc, which he also helped to create.
Ottens joined Philips in 1952 and led its product
development department where he pioneered work on an alternative to the large,
cumbersome tape recorders that existed at the time.
The cassette was finalised and released in
1962, and would go on to sell over 100 billion worldwide.
About his successful creation, Ottens once
said, “It was a breakthrough because it was foolproof” adding “Everybody could
put music in their pocket.”
