Is the Cassette Recorder Dead?

To steal a quote from Frank Zappa about jazz! I think the cassette recorder will come back if the RIAA is successful in getting its way. They do not want the new digital format to be consumer recordable. Chances are it won't be. So no SACD-R's or DAD-R's. We could still make CD-R's, I suppose but how long before CD's are no longer compatible in new players?

To be honest, I'm archiving old homemade cassette tapes onto CD-R's - with great sonic success, I should add. In many instances, my product sounds better than its corresponding commercial CD release!

Well, it maybe better than those items. However, it is not better than DAT or CDR. CDR is the replacement for cassette and does provide better performance as well as convenience.
Everyone owns a CD player and the next logical step in consumerism is to buy a CDR for all the obvious reason, as driven by the manufactures, archiving and sound! The king (cassette) is dead! Long live the king (CDR)!

I have an older pick-up that has the metal dash made for shaft style decks. I could cut a big hole in it & install a CD, but I prefer the original look, which limits your choices to radio only, 8-track or cassette. There are a lot of older vehicles still on the road & this is but one reason there is still a market for cassettes. I still make my own tapes & there are plenty of blank tapes for sale just about anywhere you look.

Everything has a fringe or collectable market. And, I suppose if you are looking at fringe and collectable then absolutely nothing is dead. Therefore, excluding this variable, I predict that within 5 years, (+ or -) 2 years, you will be discussing cassettes much like people discuss 8 tracks.

Now, reel to reel.... that's maybe a differant story!

Yes and no! Yes because cassete is less practic than CD, and more expensive. You can buy virgin CDR, cheaper than cassete. You can acess to any track of a CD in one or two seconds... But cassette recorder is yet alive, it sounds better. I make my own records whit a cassete recorder AKAI GX 95, and the result is impressive. It sounds better than CD. You must try...