When the eight-track tape and tape player were introduced in 1965, it seemed that a high point had been reached in luxurious modern technology. No longer limited to the random choices of a radio station, teenagers and hip adults could carry tapes of their favorite recording artists with them to the park or beach. Better yet, they could choose which tunes to listen to while driving in their car. It is perhaps one of the most common ironies of popular culture that one decade's most modern triumph can, like the eight-track tape, become the next decade's old news.

The eight-track tape was invented by William Powell Lear (1902–1978), famous for developing the Learjet, a small aircraft prized by corporations and business travelers. Lear developed a process for dividing magnetic recording tape into eight channels, or tracks. This increased the recording time, without damaging the sound quality, and allowed...