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. Thirty years earlier in 1898, Danish engineer Valdemar Poulsen created the Telegraphone, which used magnetic wire for magnetic sound recording and reproduction.[2]
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.[3]
Significance
Magnetic tape is used today to create back-up copies of important databases and programs. If main computer memory breaks down, these magnetic tape back-ups can restore essential data. These data copies form tape libraries.[4]
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.
