Core77

HD DVD's impending demise reminded us music lovers of a time when cassettes filled our lives. They littered the glovebox of your first used car, and if you pulled the visor down, more would hit you in the head. You couldn't take a trip without packing six or seven in your bag. You'd spend hours making mixtapes, and when your ex-girlfriend wanted to get back at you, she'd find your favorite and do this to it:

Though they starting phasing out in the '80s, the cassette's form is still around, repurposed for irony and kitsch. Nowadays we can see the cassette as...

...a bag with the unspooled ribbon as a handle (my ex would love that one);

actual cassette housings used as a cladding for wallets;

the ribbons from cassettes formed into dresses;

cassettes cast into faux gold for the ultimate tacky belt buckle, which is saying a lot in the world of belt buckles;

and given second lives as purveyors of other media, like books,

and their indirect successor, MP3s.

Cast-off CDs have already begun this cycle, finding their way into everything from lamps to chairs to the ever unimaginative coaster. It will be interested to see what the next decade brings for DVDs. If consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds, DVDs will be the building blocks for people who have hobgoblins.

And now, if you'll indulge us, the money shot.

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9