Episode 180 - You Wouldn't Magnetize a Tape!

Advent of Computing by Sean S Haas

Apr 19, 202601:06:28Society & Culture

The image of a mainframe is almost always accompanied by it's companion: the magnetic tape drive. For decades magnetic tape served as the medium of choice for computing. It was faster than punch cards, and more available...

Related Episodes

Continue listening to more episodes from Advent of Computing.

Episode 188 - Training and Teaching with the Bi-Tran Six

Sep 1, 2026 - 52:55

How did you learn about computers? And how in depth was your education? For some the answer is the Bi-Tra...

Episode 187 - What's Better Than Binary?

Aug 17, 2026 - 01:05:10

Binary is synonymous with digital computing. But is it the only way to crunch numbers? The short answer i...

LIVE from VCF West - Wait, Is That Really UNIX?

Aug 3, 2026 - 48:08

It's no secret that I've been fascinated by odd UNIX clones for a while. When I got invited back to speak...

Episode 186 - MADDIDA

Jul 19, 2026 - 01:07:11

In 1950 Northrup unveiled their MAgnetic Drum DIgital Differential Analyser. The machine is a wild piece...

Episode 185 - Is EMUL-8ion a Form of Flattery?

Jul 6, 2026 - 01:01:24

EMUL-8 is a fascinating programming language. It's described in just one paper from 1977. It's a mix of f...

Episode 184 - What Is A Programming Language?

Jun 21, 2026 - 01:09:34

I mean that both in the specific and the abstract. This episode we are looking at APL, which stands for A...

Dale Biagio - Hello, World!

Jun 14, 2026 - 31:44

Dale Biagio(author of Hello, World!) got in touch with me recently. He said he had a book full of short h...

Episode 183 - A Digital Gap?

May 31, 2026 - 54:58

I've been browsing old compur surveys and trying to build up a comprehensive data set. What I've found is...