Cassette tapes are having a minor comeback: sales were (somehow) up almost 19 percent year over year in 2018, and where theres a market, theres a Kickstarter project looking to cash in. Case in point: the Ninm Its OK. Its sort of what a portable cassette player like an original Walkman would be if Sony continued to develop tape-based tech in 2019.

So while the Its OK does the usual tape things, like playing cassettes or letting you record to tapes, it also bills itself as the worlds first Bluetooth 5.0 portable cassette player (a claim of such niche specificity that it seems to be true). It allows you to listen to your favorite jams with wireless headphones or even link it to a Bluetooth speaker, should you wish.

The merging of Bluetooth and audio technology from 40 years ago may seem incongruous, but its not the worst idea ever: assuming youre still the sort of person whod want to carry around a retro-style cassette player, having to stoop to using a second ancient tech standard — the 3.5mm headphone jack — at the same time might be asking too much. (The Its OK does have a headphone jack, too, though.) It even runs on AA batteries, just like the old Walkmans did.

While the nature of being on Kickstarter means that there are certain risks with backing, Ninm has successfully run a retro tech crowdfunding campaign before, so it has some experience here. Still, use your best judgment before you back.

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