View source for Tapete

{{short description|Audio cassette format for audiobooks for the blind}}
{{for|the company|Tapete Records}}
{{Orphan|date=January 2023}}

'''Tapete''', also known as '''Mark IV cassette''', is an [[audio cassette]] format designed for audiobooks developed for the [[Royal National Institute for the Blind]] (RNIB).<ref name="martini">{{cite web|url=http://www.ferrographworld.com/c&s2.html|first=Terry|last=Martini|title=A History of Clarke and Smith – The mighty pygmy in electronics|accessdate=November 3, 2020|date=2008|work=British Vintage Wireless Society Bulletin}}</ref> It was developed by the firm of Clarke & Smith Industries of [[Wallington, Hampshire]], and could store over twelve hours of speech yet was compact enough to be sent in the post.<ref name="tr">{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Tape-Recording-UK/60s/Tape-Recording-UK-1967-12.pdf|work=Tape Recording|date=December 1967|page=578 (22)|title=A Month of Audio in London|accessdate=November 3, 2020|via=World Radio History}}</ref> It also featured a spoken index track, allowing for rewind and fast forward by section for blind users.<ref name="studio">{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Audio/Archive-Studio-Sound/60s/Studio-Sound-1967-12.pdf|via=World Radio History|accessdate=November 3, 2020|work=Studio Sound|page=503|title=World of Tape|date=December 1967}}</ref>

The Tapete was developed for the Mark IV playback system, which was a refined version of the earlier "Mark I" system introduced by the RNIB in 1959.<ref name="SchauderCram"/> Prior to introduction of the Mark IV system, {{convert|6|lb|adj=on}} cassettes were mailed to 22,000 subscribers.{{r|studio}}

The format was in "large-scale use" by the RNIB by mid-1969.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Audio/Archive-Studio-Sound-IDX/IDX/60s/Studio-Sound-1969-05-OCR-Page-0009.pdf|work=Studio Sound|date=May 1969|page=189 (9)|title=RNIB Volunteers|accessdate=November 3, 2020|via=World Radio History}}</ref> It was mainly used in Great Britain and a few other Commonwealth countries, with other markets such as the United States and most other European countries opting to maintain disc-based systems for audiobooks.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/libraryservicefo00cylk/page/18/mode/2up|title=Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped : An International Approach|pages=18–19|editor=Frank Kurt Cylke|year=1979|publisher=International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions}}</ref> The only other Western European countries to adopt the system were Switzerland, Spain and Finland.<ref name="SchauderCram">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/librariesforblin00dona/page/8/mode/2up|pages=7–9|title=Libraries for the blind : an international study|author=D. E. Schauder and M. D. Cram|year=1977|publisher=Peter Peregrinus Ltd.}}</ref>

Clarke & Smith as a company became increasingly reliant on the RNIB contract by the mid-1970s. As early as the 1980s, the RNIB investigated newer, digital formats, and in the later part of the decade it commissioned another company to [[reverse engineer]] the format. The RNIB began preparing its transition to the [[Digital Accessible Information System]] (DAISY) in the late 1990s, pulling its contract at the same time that Frank Clarke, the company's founder, unexpectedly died.{{r|martini|p=22}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Audio storage]]
[[Category:Tape recording]]