Saying Good-Bye to Cassettes: What is their Legacy?

I like to believe I overcame my life as a pack rat.

What am I supposed to do with this musical format of the 80's? I have a hard time throwing away my a-ha cassette.

They will go for nothing on e-bay.
Why waste my time selling them for a nickel at a garage sale?
I think the local used music store would ask me to pay them to take an a-ha cassette off my hands.
Along with the others:

Spandau Ballet, They Might Be Giants, REM, Clint Black.

Cassettes are the outcasts of the music industry, along with their sad cousins, the 8-track tape.

Vinyl has fabulous sound quality, while the CD and MP3 are convenient and easily manipulated.

What will be the legacy of the cassette? Do they have any redeeming value in music history?

Vinyl lasted decades and still has a cult following (can you imagine having a cult following for cassettes?).
The CD may be on its last years, but it introduced us to digital music.
Love my iPod...

A friend/colleague of mine in a conversation a while back and I shared some laughs about "the mixed tape." How could I have shared love with my wife without the mixed tape? I think I put together at least 8 tapes when we were dating...but why save the tapes? The sound systems I have don't play the tapes at a decent sound quality--and the tapes have deteriorated from time in the sun, overuse, and our daughter getting a hold of them.

The cultural place of the mixed tape is profound when referenced in an episode of "Family Guy," when baby Stewie is hot for his babysitter and makes her a mixed tape.

I will get rid of the cassettes. I may regret it someday when one of them is selling for a couple of grand...but I am not that kind of collector.

I saved the covers to the mixed tapes for our scrap books...

(Special Note to Brother Bingo: If I need to correct any of my musicology, let me know.)

Elihu