PCs killed the mix-tape star
Putting together a home-brewed compilation of songs used to be an act of love and art. Now it's just too damn easy to be worth caring about.

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By Joel Keller

Jan. 22, 2004  |  Mix tapes have been mentioned in various pop culture forums almost since the invention of the cassette, the most famous and loving example being in Nick Hornby's novel "High Fidelity."

But "High Fidelity" was released in 1995, a time in which the music-listening world did not have CD burners, high-speed Internet access, and MP3 players. In the nine years since the book came out, the way most people listen to music has changed dramatically. All of the above methods of music listening are created by the PC, a device that is decidedly different from the old stereo system that Rob Fleming used to record his meticulous mixes. Unfortunately, the technological advances that have made music portability easier to accomplish have taken the entire visceral experience of making the mix and reduced it to just another procedure that can be executed with a few clicks of a mouse.
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