Today's dying media spotlight is magnetic tape. By definition magnetic tape "is a plastic ribbon coated on one side with an iron-oxide material that can be magnetized by electromagnetic pulses for storing data."
Magnetic tapes came in open reel-to-reel as well as (housed in) cartridge formats and were used for audio or video recordings, and the storage of information in early computers. Tapes are played back and recorded on decks which wind the tape past a read/write device or "head". Photo Credit: Freefotos
Why is Magnetic Tape a Dying Medium?
Finding something on magnetic tape involves moving the tape sequentially, and even with the fast forward button, tape does not provide the same random access that newer recording mediums do. Copying from one magnetic tape to another results in a loss of quality with each generation of copying.
- Examples of Magnetic Tape Media
- Early History of Magnetic Tape
- Cassette Tape
- 8 Track Tape
- Video Tape
Mary — a nit pic — the plural of medium is media.
Second — magnetic media tend to not only lose their magnetic viability — but also can and nearly always DO — print through to the layers above or below.
Now – that’s enough to discourage their use — but the problem is that the replacement for them is now OPTICAL media. Which have some of their own problems of UNKNOWN LONGEVITY!
I’ve been researching it for quite a while and I must tell you that the archival life numbers are confusing and questionable. Lots of CONDITIONS are attached to them.
George Margolin
Thanks George
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