Innovations in the Design of Magnetic Tape Subsystems

Both magnetic wire and acetate-based magnetic tape were used in the audio industry. Welsh and Lukoff [lj describe the early use of metal tape for digital magnetic recording. Acetate-based tape was used for digital recording by Raytheon at a relatively low tape velocity, as reported by Bloch [2]. At IBM it was decided to pursue an acetate-based plastic magnetic tape for computer input,‘ output because of several attractive characteristics: high data rate, infinite reversibility, low power requirement, low cost, long-term storage capability, compactness, and ease of handling. The use of acetate-based plastic tape was made practical for high-performance systems by the invention of the vacuum column.