Last week, I went through some love-hate battles that have occurred between music and technology over the decades. Here are a few more.

Tapes vs. Tapes

For years, the only source for music in the car was the AM radio. That changed starting with some 1965 Ford models, as the 8-track player was introduced as a factory option. It ruled until the mid-1970s when it was eclipsed by the cassette, which, unlike the 8-track, had a rewind function. In 1982, the last pre-recorded 8-tracks disappeared from stores, although it lived on in the realm of record clubs. Legend has it that the last 8-track ever issued was Fleetwood Mac’s Greatest Hits in November 1988. (Good trivia question, that!)

Tapes vs. Vinyl

There was a period in the 1980s when sales of pre-recorded cassettes were greater than those of LPs. Everyone had a Walkman and rather than transferring LPs to blank cassettes, millions just went for the pre-recorded version. Record stores bulged with LPs, 45s, 12-inch singles, cassettes and, for a while, 8-tracks.

Tapes and Vinyl vs. CDs

Before cassettes and vinyl could finish their death match, along came the compact disc. Introduced in late 1982, the record industry was initially dead against them. The last thing they wanted during a brutal recession was another new format with its requisite manufacturing, transportation and warehousing costs, not to mention the investments record stores would have to make on new shelving. Then someone realized that the CD was a way to get music fans to buy their entire music collections all over again.

CDs vs. MP3s

And lo, the times were good as fat margins on CDs and ever-increasing annual album sales made the recording industry a very, very happy place. Things were so good that when, in 1993, a Warner executive discovered leaked versions of a Depeche Mode album trading in chat rooms on the Prodigy network (anyone remember that?) using some weird new technology called the MP3, he brushed it off as inconsequential. Oops.

MP3s vs. Streaming

But MP3s (and similar music files) may not be the endgame. Subscription services like Spotify and Pandora may make possessing MP3s irrelevant. There’s no need to own an MP3 if you can get the music from somewhere whenever you want it.

Then again, Apple’s iCloud is a shot against streaming, isn’t it?

The format wars are far from over.