[tophat9000]

Not computer related but cool.

Yea but reminds me of the old Main Frame "Refrigerator type" reel to reel data tape units.... what a vacuum column, pain in the ass, to work on

[Calvin Locke]

I knew a guy that claimed when he worked for a bank at night, doing the check to mag tape thing, if they left a tape on
top of the drive, it would damage the data, requiring them to re-run the check to mag tape again. Happened when changing
tapes, obviously.

Years ago, I saw an interview with a football game director. He claimed he came up with the idea of "instant replay" by
marking a tape at the start of a play, and then rewinding to that mark. At that time, they had to put up
the notice of "Instant Replay!". It's been ubiquitous for so long, it's now expected from every angle after every play.

And speaking of which, I believe the most replayed "event" according to TIVO, was the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction.

At least that the time.

[rawhide]

Yea but reminds me of the old Main Frame "Refrigerator type" reel to reel data tape units.... what a vacuum column, pain in the ass, to work on

These are still being used in the computer room where I work. IBM's 3420. They are channel attached to the new IBM mainframe. Rarely have any problems, usually a good head cleaning will fix them.