A device of the same general physical size and shape as a standard audio cassette
tape, but which accepts digital information from any of a variety of sources—including
for example: Internet transmission, a digital computer, or memory cards (especially
digital memory cards)—and plays this digital information through any, for
example, standard audio tape cassette player. The device operates by converting
the digital representation of the sound into magnetic signals which are presented
to the read/write head of the cassette player equipment. The device allows the
user of the cassette player to regulate the audio playback using conventional equipment
controls such as: START, STOP, REWIND, FAST REWIND, FORWARD, FAST FORWARD, etc.
In one exemplary implementation, the device has the same general physical dimensions
of a standard audio cassette; at least one digital processor; and a slot into which
electronic media such as, for example, memory cards, smart cards having a processor
and a memory embodied thereon and other memory media may be inserted. Converter
circuitry converts data stored in digital memory to an analog signal which is magnetically
coupled to the read head of the equipment. Numerous sensors detect changes in at
least one of the tape equipment mechanisms in the audio cassette emulator.