"Dude, This is the Best Mix Tape Ever"

When I was in high school, I always tried to impress my friends with the coolest mix tapes of all time. For a while, I was into psychedelic rock, so side A might kick off with the mellow notes of Pink Floyd's epic "Dogs"and Side B would finish off with Hendrix's trippy tune "Axis Bold as Love." Over the years, however, my musical taste has shifted away from classic rock, though hearing "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" always transports me to another time.

That's the beauty of music and a perfectly crafted mix tape can tell an entire story. In fact, Rob (John Cusack), the record store owner in High Fidelity and mix tape aficionado claims, "The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don't wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules." 

Of course, once CDs took over, mix tapes became an artifact and now iPod playlists are the current trend. So, how do you combine the best of both worlds? There is a new product out called the USB Mix Tape. Its 64 Megabytes and holds about an hour's worth of music (like most cassettes). If you remember, the 90 minute or longer tapes would always get stuck or slow down and then you'd have to take a pencil...well you know the rest. The coolest part is that the USB drive comes in a mock cassette complete with an area to personalize the playlist. For people who grew up in the '80s and early '90s, this is pretty damn cool. And, it makes an even better Christmas gift.