History Main / CassetteFuturism

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKT3Z8LBn6s First Contact]], the VR introductory game bundled with the Oculus Rift, (not to be confused with the [[Film/StarTrekFirstContact Star Trek film of the same name]]), is *dripping* with this aesthetic and I'm beyond surprised it hasn't been added to this page already.

Stories which use a technological aesthetic reminiscent of the early 1980s as [[TropeCodifier popularized]] by the UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer and imitators, regardless of the real time setting of the media. Most often found in the context of ScienceFiction.

Whether it be the loud, bright colors and geometric shapes, the tendency towards [[AsceticAesthetic stark plainness,]] or the lack of powerful computers and cell phones, it is clear that this is neither the RaygunGothic of days past nor the EverythingIsAnIpodInTheFuture aesthetic that would follow, but a bridging point that contains elements of both styles.

As the name implies, a good way to judge if this trope is present is the frequent use of cassettes, which were used in the decades named above to house magnetic tape ubiquitous in technology of the period, and later on often contained ROM chips for game consoles and occasionally add-ons for computing hardware. Other technologies to look out for are CRT displays, computer systems reminiscent of microcomputers like the UsefulNotes/Commodore64, freestanding hi-fi systems, small LCD displays as opposed to full color screens, [[MagicFloppyDisk floppy disks]], and loads of analog technologies. TheInternet or [[TheAlternet some analogue]] may exist, but if it's more frequently used to exchange large files than physical media, chances are that the work isn't using this trope.

Expect many high-end electronics to come in beige box cases. When actually using the electronics or looking into the displays, expect that OurGraphicsWillSuckInTheFuture, there will be TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects and some employment of {{Retraux}} by virtue of having said 3D consist of very simple geometry with stock textures.

Stories which use a technological aesthetic reminiscent of the early 1980s as [[TropeCodifier popularized]] by the UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer and imitators, regardless of the real time setting of the media. Most often found in the context of science fiction.

* ''Literature/{{Cybernetrix}}'' is set in a world where TheEighties never ended, for better or for worse. Old Atari consoles are still in use, people ride around in [=DeLoreans=], and ''[[Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} Ghostbusters]]'' has had at least seven sequels, the most recent having a [[BuddyCopShow buddy-cop]] {{bromance}} between Ray and Slimer. The whole premise of the book involves hundreds of people trying to escape such cultural stagnation through the virtual world ''Cybernetrix'', which is in it of itself named after a ''Film/{{Tron}}'' [[TheMockbuster mockbuster]] film.

* In ''Series/{{Caprica}}'', taking place several decades before ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'', the effect resembles SchizoTech, as the Colonial computer technology shown to exist ''before'' the war with the Cylons is clearly much more advanced than our own, or the tech that the Colonists apparently fell back on when the built ships like ''Galactica'' with no computer networks on board to make them more resistant to Cylon hacking. The people of planet Caprica (and presumably the other 11 colonies) have USB drives, flat touchscreens, fully immersive virtual reality and holotechnology, and artificially intelligent [[EverythingIsAnIPodInTheFuture robot butlers that resemble iPods]], but still make use of late 90s/early 2000s "flip phones" and even older rotary-style phones. This was probably more for stylistic reasons, as ''Caprica'' contains elements of {{Cyberpunk}} and TheFutureIsNoir that incorporate other retro aesthetics (Fedoras, cigarettes, etc).
* ''Series/Space1999'' shows computer tech didn't really changed from what was available in TheSeventies, massive and requiring tape drives and specialist training to use the keyboard, even with a permanent base on the moon and manned deep-space probes that had reached other planets in the galaxy.
* ''Series/Maniac2018'' is set in an alternative timeline 2018. The timeframe appears to have branched off from reality in the early 1980s, and technology is both more crude and more powerful at the same time. There are sanitation robots picking up street litter, VR pornography, and an AI capable of scanning and manipulating humans brains. On the other hand, there doesn't seem to be an internet, and computers look like Commodore 64s, with small monocromatic displays and old 5 & 1/4" floppy drives.

Whether it be the loud, bright colors and geometric shapes, the tendency towards [[AsceticAesthetic stark plainness,]] or the the lack of powerful computers and cell phones, it is clear that this is neither the RaygunGothic of days past nor the EverythingIsAnIpodInTheFuture aesthetic that would follow, but a bridging point that contains elements of both styles.

* ''Literature/{{LeftBehind}}'' of all things does this semi-unintentionally -- the last book in the series, Kingdom Come, was written in 2007, is mostly set in 2093, and features fax machines and DVD players as cutting edge technology, simply due to the need to keep continuity with the earlier entries.[[/folder]]

* In ''Anime/GhostInTheShell'' (specially the 1995 movie) apparently cellphones don't exist and public phones are still a thing.

* ''Series/BabylonFive'' featured lots of curved CRT screens disguised as flatscreens.

Expect many high-end electronics to come in beige box cases.

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* ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'' is set in a very '80s/'90s vision of what the year 2077 would look like, in keeping with the [[TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk}} pen-and-paper RPG]] that it is based on. The angular cars look like they came out of ''Anime/GhostInTheShell'' or an '80s Detroit assembly line, UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion (on the ascent in TheNineties after TheGreatPoliticsMessUp) is an economic superpower whose "euro-dollars" are the global currency, and even with all the high-end computer technology around, the primary means of electronic data transfer is through an evolution of USB drives rather than anything resembling the internet.

* ''VideoGame/{{Control}}'' takes place inside a Brutalist building full of deliberately outmoded technology. The Federal Bureau of Control specifically forbids "anything smart" (including cell phones) from being brought into the Oldest House, and there are even posters warning employees of the Bureau to be on the lookout for modern technology because it does not react well to the supernatural phenomena within. The desktop computers are big and bulky in the style of an early '80s "micro" or IBM PC, mainframes are absolutely huge and covered in analog switches and blinkenlights, the Bureau uses reel-to-reels and film projectors, data is transferred between departments via an immense pneumatic tube system (even if it does lose things sometimes), and even the firearms used by agents and rangers are outdated. Nothing can be seen in use that dates back to later than the 1970s or '80s.

* ''Modempunk'' is a simple role-playing game made by the [[Website/FourChan 1d4Chan]] community about a [[{{Dystopia}} dystopian]] [[{{AlternateHistory}} alternate history]] 1980s where the 1990s internet boon came a decade early, owning a computer without a license makes you an outlaw by the [[{{OppressiveStatesOfAmerica}} police-state]], and most kids are [[{{HollywoodHacking}} cool, savvy hackers]]. Players are encouraged to make clever uses of commonly available electronics from the 1980s, altered for hacking and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phreaking "phreaking"]] by the characters. The game was inspired by the 1995 movie ''Film/{{Hackers}}''.

* The sci-fi elements of ''Series/DangerFive'''s second season lean hard into this, sometimes with a little bit of a disco CrystalSpiresAndTogas vibe, in contrast to the first season's '60s RaygunGothic. Notably, Pierre is constantly handing out cassette tapes with "the perfect song" for the moment.

* Ron Cobb's set designs for ''Film/{{Alien}}'' made to bring the UsedFuture depicted by the film to life is perhaps one of the most influential takes of this style, setting up the mood of the sequels that followed and other media.

* ''VideoGame/{{Wasteland}}'' and its sequel, ''Videogame/Wasteland2'', both heavily feature machinery of this style and vintage whenever electronics are involved, the former having been made in the 80s itself and the latter following up on setting consistency.

* ''VideoGame/{{Control}} features a Brutalist building full of deliberately outmoded technology - the Bureau of Control specifically forbids "anything smart" (including cell phones) from being brought into the building, and there are even posters warning employees of the Bureau to be on the lookout for modern technology (because it does not react well to The Oldest House). The desktop computers are big and bulky in the style of an early '80s "micro" or IBM PC, mainframes are absolutely huge and covered in analog switches and blinkenlights, the Bureau uses reel-to-reels and film projectors, data is transferred between departments via an immense pneumatic tube system (even if it does lose things sometimes), and even the firearms used by agents and rangers are outdated. Nothing can be seen in use that dates back to anything earlier than the 1970s.

Compare and contrast EverythingIsAnIPodInTheFuture. Compare to ComputerEqualsTapeDrive, {{Retraux}}, RetroUniverse, ZeerustCanon and RaygunGothic.

* ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSlimGoodbody'': Despite taking place in a futuristic TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture setting with TeleportersAndTransporters, data and programming in this series get stored on magnetic tape, as it was produced in the late 70s and early 80s. The tapes are plot-relevant, too, as the resident RobotBuddy B-1 needs to have tapes inserted into a drive on his chest regularly, or else his programming crashes.

[[/folder]]

* ''VideoGame/Control features a Brutalist building full of deliberately outmoded technology - the Bureau of Control specifically forbids "anything smart" (including cell phones) from being brought into the building, and there are even posters warning employees of the Bureau to be on the lookout for modern technology (because it does not react well to The Oldest House). The desktop computers are big and bulky in the style of early '80s "micros" or IBM PCs, mainframes are absolutely huge and covered in analog switches and blinkenlights, the Bureau uses reel-to-reels and film projectors, data is transferred between departments via an immense pneumatic tube system (even if it does lose things sometimes), and even the firearms used by agents and rangers are outdated. Nothing can be seen in use that dates back to anything earlier than the 1970s.

* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'' initially is vague about how advanced Colonial digital technology was, with a backstory alluding to the Colonists downgrading their digital tech deliberately to fight the Cylons, who as artificially intelligent lifeforms were really good at hacking their computer systems. When Helo and Starbuck are stranded on Caprica and rummaging through Starbuck's old apartment, the microcassettes from ''Film/AClockworkOrange'' show up in Starbuck's possession; they contain recordings of her father's piano music. Later the series seems to imply that Colonial computer tech is about a couple years to a decade behind present-day Earth, but as the ''Galactica'' is an old ship from the first war, she is deliberately lower-tech compared to newer, more digitally advanced ships like the ''Pegasus''. Various other Colonial tech (especially non-military tech) also has retro-stylings, like their art deco radios that wouldn't look out of place in a 1950s diner. The Colonists are HumanAliens, human beings from a parallel civilization who [[spoiler: eventually turn out to be our prehistoric ancestors]]. Their technological progression (pre-war) doesn't strictly have to follow Earth's, but they are meant to be roughly similar to us culturally enough that we might expect only minor variations, like the microcassettes and vintage-looking radios, which might have been technological dead-ends in their own civilization's history, but probably are more resistant to Cylon electronic warfare than digital technology. At least, Colonial space travel tech does seem to have advanced by the time ''Galactica'' is set, but the civilian radios still look like early and mid-20th century AM/FM models with art deco stylings, and other episodes imply that the ''A Clockwork Orange''-inspired microcassettes were a common storage medium for music, at least on Caprica, before the Cylon Holocaust.

* The music video for the Music/SpiceGirls' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ro0FW9Qt-4 "Say You'll Be There"]]
* Music/KylieMinogue's video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKB9JqLAHNY "Can't Get You Out Of My Head"]]
* Music/{{NSYNC}}'s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is6gtilerPk "I Want You Back"]]
* The Music/BackstreetBoys had several egregious examples, notable scenes from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDcCSiakaU4 "I'll Never Break Your Heart"]] and the entirety of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEb2CecR11I "Larger Than Life"]]
* 5ive's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pyJ5cU6WoM "Don't Wanna Let You Go"]]
* Creator/WillSmith's hit movie track [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJoBWii2lNM "Men in Black"]]. Justified in that [[Film/MenInBlack its source material]] was rife with the same aesthetic.

* [[http://english.bouletcorp.com/2011/07/07/formicapunk/ Formica Punk]] is basically the PunkPunk version of this trope. The name inspired a [[http://formicapunk.tumblr.com Tumblr blog]] (in French). It’s also referred as Modem Punk after the tabletop game example above.

* The original ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis'' is as '80s as it gets (thanks to, among other things, being a homage to ''Film/StreetsOfFire'') even if it happens in the 2030s and one example is that the "Data Units" (portable computer information storage units with hefty amounts of data on the KillerRobot Boomers and the Hardsuit PoweredArmor that are used via BrainUpload) which serve as an important MacGuffin in the backstory of two mayor characters look like Betamax cassettes.

Compare and contrast EverythingIsAnIpodInTheFuture. Compare to ComputerEqualsTapeDrive, {{Retraux}}, RetroUniverse, ZeerustCanon and RaygunGothic.

* ''Literature/{{Cybernetrix}}'' is set in a world where TheEighties never ended, for better or for worse. Old Atari consoles are still in use, people ride around in [=DeLoreans=] and ''[[Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} Ghostbusters]]'' has had at least seven sequels, the most recent having a buddy-cop {{Bromance}} between Ray and Slimer. The whole premise of the book involves hundreds of people trying to escape such cultural stagnation through the virtual world ''Cybernetrix'', which is in it of itself named after a ''Film/{{Tron}}'' [[TheMockbuster mockbuster]] film.

* ''Film/StarWarsANewHope'' opens on Leia downloading the Death Star plans off a wall-sized computer and storing them on a "datacard" (floppy disc). The prequels fazed this out in favor of the HolographicTerminal.