So this morning Jon comes over waving a copy of Circuits, the NYTimes technology section. Never a huge fan of the Times for various non-political reasons, I nevertheless respect Circuits (while usually ignoring it). But this morning they feature an extremely interesting product for anyone with a pile of leftover cassette tapes (self-mixed or store bought): hardware that fits into any PC 5.25 drive bay and which converts cassette tapes to MP3’s - or even records MP3’s back onto the tapes. It’s called PlusDeck2.

It’s hard to know where to go with this post; it’s such a fruitful topic. The possibilities for commenting on the intersection of cassettes and MP3’s alone are impressive. Then there’s the product itself. And finally, the company that makes it, BTO. CoFactors is sticking with the last one, however, because the first two seem to be covered fairly exhaustively (also we haven’t tried the product yet, although Jon just bought one; stay tuned). One way we know that? BTO’s extremely interesting homepage feature that tracks blog mentions of the PlusDeck.

This is an intriguing and efficient corporate interaction strategy for the blogsphere. It’s like the media sections that many companies have on their websites, only more dynamic (instead of formal press releases or occasionally published articles, there are lots of living, breathing blogs). It’s also, of course, appropriately trendy + savvy. This is exactly the kind of product that attracts a rabid blog following - MP3’s? Old cassette tapes? What could be more perfect for the “world live web?” Of course, it’s also slightly risky. For one, the list does’t always update the same way. And for two, you might not always get a perfect endorsement - as this post indicates; this gent did not end up buying the product (JF has no relation to this person, BTW).

Also eye-catching is that this is BTO’s first product. A heck of a way to come out of the box, but then it’s not all that surprising to see something like this emerge from Korea. This is the land where networked video games draw TV audiences and home of Samsung, arguably the hottest hardware OEM out there right now. Should the PlusDeck2 truly take off, it will be because it is both simple and necessary - it appears to be an easy-to-operate bridge between analog and digital media.

On a slightly less goggle-eyed note, we couldn’t help but smile at the earnest-but-slightly-off-kilter letter from the company to customers that is featured on the BTO site. JF particularly likes the corporate slogan “Our business is just beginning from now on.” I actually hope they don’t adjust the translation if they get big; there’s something both refreshing and koan-like about it (no confusion between Japanese/Chinese religious didactic traditions and those of Korea intended). Also interesting are some of the “other” uses to which BTO recommends customers put the PlusDeck2, like language instruction - or preserving religious lectures. But the CoFactors favorite is the suggestion that the device can “help make the best narrated fairy tale.” Certainly, for those hoarding audio tapes with thousands of hours of sound, this product does seem to offer a fairy tale ending. We wish BTO luck.

JF

This entry was posted on Friday, June 10th, 2005 at 9:53 am and is filed under General, Usability, Finds, Interaction Strategy.