Double Cassette Deck

Sitting in my den the other day, it suddenly dawned on me, I have a double cassette deck. It's not that I didn't know I had one. It is just that the realization suddenly hit me. For what ungodly purpose do I need a double cassette deck today? I thought about it for a while and in purely functional terms

• I can dub one tape to another, 
• I can record a song from the radio,
• I can even record each one of my CDS on to tape.

For what reason, I do not know.

Pioneer Dual Cassette

I bought my stereo in 1995. It's a good one. Not top of the line (and hardly state of the art in 2012). But it is very good. I had extra cash from a severance package, wanted to spend it, and needed a stereo. Needed. The era called for a receiver, cassette deck, and CD player. I regret not getting a turntable. Albums last so much longer than cassettes, are more collectible and, I still have some 400-500 in my collection. I got rid of about 500.  With a little more foresight...

Pioneer Receiver

Cassettes were more portable but did not last repeated use. And they are too difficult to queue to the right song, unlike albums or CDs. Does anyone remember the supposed replacement of cassettes? The DAT (Digital Audio Tape). Yes. The same crap and shortcomings of a traditional cassette tape yet they last forever. (Truth be told, the recording on DATs is superior to that of CDs, providing a cloned copy of the audio.)

Putting things in further perspective, in '95 I had a car with a tape deck. So, if I wanted to to listen to my CDs, I had to record them on to tape. Furthermore, most of my old radio airchecks and demos are on cassette. I should digitize these before I lose them.
Once I do I will have no need for the tape deck. Unless, purely as a hobby, I record each one of my CDs on to tape.

This is a selective list of cassette tapes I own

Mr. Mister	Rush	Robert Palmer
Bob Marley	Jethro Tull	The Travelling Wilburys
Billy Idol	Tom Waits	The Lost Boys soundtrack
Kate Bush	Del Amitri	Extreme
The Cult	Bonnie Raitt	Iggy Pop
Hothouse Flowers	John Mellencamp	The Eagles
Texas	Robert Cray	Pearl Jam
Los Lobos	Robbie Robertson	Violent Femmes
Talking Heads	Midge Ure	Prince
Emerson Lake and Powell	The Police	J.J. Cale
Steve Winwood	Van Halen	A-Ha