For you younger guys who only know cd's - before cd's & cassette's there were 8-tracks - but first there were 4-tracks
Earl "Madman" Muntz, the creator of the Cadillac powered Muntz Jet, invented the Muntz Stereo-Pak 4-track system in 1962 as a way to play prerecorded tapes in cars. 4-track tapes were originally thought of as unmarketable.
In the 4-track format, the pinch roller (the wheel that moves the tape along as it plays) was housed in the player. The 4-track cartridge had two programs--the tape played all the way around the loop, then started all over again. In fact, the format took its name from the fact that two programs, each with two tracks of information (left and right channels of a stereo mix) equals four tracks. The two programs of the 4-track format were like the two sides of an LP, each holding roughly half the total program material.
Despite 4-track's potential to deliver better sound quality, it was the 8-track format that eventually dominated.
The development of the 8-track format took the basic 4-track technology and refined it, making changes designed to make the tape less likely to jam while playing, and to increase accessibility to individual selections on the tape.
The tape ends in a Stereo-Pak are not connected by a splice made of a conductive material — as are the later "automatic" switching 8-track cartridges. 4-track cartridge players had to be switched manually between programs 1 & 2 by a lever on the machine.
This is a 4-track cartridge.
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[b]Notice the difference between a 4 & 8-track
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