The 8-track is named for its quarter-inch tape that holds eight parallel tracks of sound. Just like in a cassette, a felt pressure-pad pushes the tape against a playback head in the deck.

Image via 8-Track Heaven, a site which has itself gone to 8-Track Heaven. So now, the problem is the tapes themselves. I think there are two main reasons why people think that 8-tracks suck.

But we couldn’t find anyone who would admit to owning the Bearcat 8 Track Scanner, as seen in the 1979 Popular Electronics ad below. The ad copy says you can turn your 8-Track player into a 4 ...