Since the first cassette tape was invented 60 years ago on Thursday, nowhere has its impact been more tangible than across the Middle East.
Invented by Lou Ottens, a Dutch engineer who worked for Philips, the two-spool cassette tape debuted in 1963 at an exhibition in Berlin. Selling over 100 billion cassette tapes worldwide, people no longer had to buy records or listen to content marred by censorship or gatekeepers of record companies and radio stations. The cheap, pocket-sized device revolutionised access, giving power to the people.
In the Arab world, the cassette tape functioned…
