Tape modems

[GARTHWILSON]

BigEd wrote:

But the topic here is Tape modems, is it not?

Yes, but I started it to discuss the weaknesses we're up against there, particularly regarding getting a greater data speed, and particularly with cassettes.  The greater subject was about a simple, dependable thing to fall back on for data storage, something that should outlast all others, just as I keep a paper printout of the source code of every project I do for work, when it's finished and I've moved on to another project and further changes are unlikely.  If all electronic backups fail, the printout is still there, a ready reference that should keep me from having to figure out certain things again for another project.  Unfortunately, in the 18 years since I started the topic, cassettes have gone away, so I've had to change my view there, in spite of the good feeling I might have for tape recorders, kind of like enjoying carrying Grandpa's pocket watch.  I only have one cassette machine left, and although I can still get belts for it, it now has mechanical problems I can't fix.  I'm always glad to discuss tape modems, but I doubt if my tape modem will ever get used again, and I can't really recommend the tape idea anymore— which is why I'm more or less resigned to recommending shifting to serial EEPROM or flash instead.  [Edit, 7/28/22:  I have an I2C-6 EEPROM module available on the front page of my site now, and there's a link to the data sheet there.]

[BigEd]

I can certainly agree that tapes, in the sense we might use them here, are becoming something of an antique technology. Nonetheless, I think they are still something an enthusiast could bring into play.

Solid state storage is an excellent innovation to bring to the retrocomputing world - and it's been done, many times, and I'm quite sure we have some great threads about it here.