History of Computers - Magnetic Tape
Magnetic tape is a thin strip of plastic with an oxide coating. It is used as an external storage device for audio, video, and data. It stores this information by polarizing the tape’s coating, creating encryptions that represent data that can later be turned into an electrical signal.[1]
Overview
Dr. Fritz Pfleumer, a German Austrian engineer, invented magnetic tape in 1927 by coating thin paper with iron oxide powder. He received a patent for his invention in 1928. Pfleumer, however, did not come up with this idea of magnetic recording himself.[2] Thirty years earlier in 1900, Danish engineer Valdemar Poulsen created the Telegraphone, which used steel wire for magnetic sound recording and reproduction. Magnetic tape was used as a means for not only storing audio and video, but also data, as it was used to store data from scientific instruments for research. Its ability to be reused, stored, and transported easily made it the ideal form of storage for the beginning of the twentieth century.[3]
Fritz Pfleumer
Magnetic sound recording was first engineered by German engineers during WWII with the invention of the magnetophone.[4]
The UNIVAC I, the first digital tape recorder, was developed in 1950 and manufactured with the Eckert-Mauchly Company’s UNIVAC I computer. Magnetic tape was later used to for technologies such as Video Cassette Recorders (VCR), audio cassette tapes, and compact data cassettes.[6]
Despite being uplifted as the king of storage, magnetic tape is still in use today by large corporations such as Google to backup databases, as data on magnetic tape cannot be destroyed by software glitches.[7] If main computer memory breaks down, these magnetic tape back-ups can restore essential data. These data copies form tape libraries.[8]
Magnetic tape technology is also used in the floppy disk. Despite being overtaken by the compact disc and the flash drive, the floppy disk has been essential in computer data transfer and storage.
Significance
Magnetic tape was the first form of data storage, and was used for decades as a primary method of storage. It was used in some of the first sound recorders and later in other major forms of data storage, and it still has a place in today's world as a means for backing up large databases.
External Links
References
- ↑ http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-magnetic-tape.htm
- ↑ http://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Basis/tape.html
- ↑ http://www.britannica.com/topic/magnetic-recording
- ↑ http://www.britannica.com/topic/magnetic-recording
- ↑ https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAMQjxxqFQoTCK36odDf98cCFQ6diAodcWcBnA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.angelfire.com%2Fwa%2Fstephrenaud%2Fhistmagrec.html&psig=AFQjCNFztacChUx2HxBP9FOiKQDFDgW1ow&ust=1442361938036382
- ↑ http://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Basis/tape.html
- ↑ http://www.tested.com/tech/1926-why-google-uses-tape-to-back-up-all-your-emails/
- ↑ http://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Basis/tape.html
