Half a century later, magnetic tape remains surprisingly well-used in government. NASA uses it to back up vast amounts of ...

US GSA has decommissioned 14,000 tapes and an unknown amount of tape drives The data was moved ... “just saved $1M per year by converting 14,000 magnetic tapes (70 yr old technology for ...

The first electronic storage medium, magnetic tape is made of flexible plastic with one side coated with a ferromagnetic material. The data are recorded as binary digits (bits) in the form of ...

London-based Magnetic Scrolls was an early pioneering ... the oxide material (which is what stores the data) to the backing tape, and this binder can absorb water over the years.

Why it matters: Many users, including staffers at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), likely consider magnetic tape storage severely outdated. Despite being around for several decades ...