Cassettes were the best. Like the first fidget toys and trinkets. The squeak of the cases opening, the j-cards, the smell. The way the print was raised on the cassette shell. The feel on your finger tips.
Nah, we are just living in a technology turnover point. But look at the generations before us. My mother saw the first household microwaves and VHS video cassette players, then DVD and Blu Ray, and streaming. It's not just us.
//And you listened to them with headphones that fit on top of your head, then with smaller ones that just fit in the ears and then they became wireless.