## Rewind the culture ##### 2026-01-01 I remembered a skateboard shop in Komazawa that was selling a **mix tape**. I started to wonder how I could listen to that music today, and while searching, I discovered an attractive cassette player. The player is made by [**WE ARE REWIND**](https://www.wearerewind.com/). The CEO, Romain Boudruche, wanted to bring cassette culture back in a modern way. To do this, he worked with engineers from ORA, a French company with 40 years of experience in analog sound design, and with manufacturing partners who could make this vision real. I learned this from an [article](https://www.itsliquid.com/wearerewind.html) on ITSLIQUID. In this story, the **mix tape** is the subject, and the **player** is the product that supports it. In the past, when classic products were updated for modern use—like a modern redesign of Braun’s Snow White—the focus was mainly on the hardware itself. This time, however, the culture and content come first, and the hardware follows. ![[WeAreRewind20260101065726.png| 200]] *Image courtesy of WE ARE REWIND* This circular aperture turns an invisible process into a visible ritual. ## Media formats shape the sense ##### 2025-11-09 I believe the media we engage with most during our formative years profoundly influences our thinking and sensibilities. Among record and CD formats, cassette tapes offered a space for personal curation during a certain period. What we now call Spotify playlists could only be created by physically recording from CDs or radio. Around that time, there was also the CD rental service. You could only afford to buy CDs you really loved. When a new release came out, you'd go to the rental shop and make a tape. During that middle school era, mixtapes became a format that could be easily duplicated and distributed locally, serving as a way for rappers to gain fans. Personally, I think I love the culture that emerges and spreads in those places when duplication technology becomes democratized. ![[Pasted image 20251109174548.png |128]]