News

eMag Ends Open Reel Production

The last remaining manufacturer of open-reel tape ispreparing to end production, it said last month. eMag Solutions, LLC said it istaking orders for a final production run, after which no more 9-track open-reeltape will be made.

In the 1960s and 70s open-reel tape was the dominantstorage media for enterprise computers. The introduction of nine-track tape,which allows a width of tape to store an entire 8-bit byte, was hailed as amajor innovation over earlier tape formats.

Clearly, the glory days of open-reel tape are behindus, but eMag continued to manufacture tape to meet the needs of users witholder equipment. EMag also offers services for users who need to store legacydata on 9-track tape or wish to move data off 9-track onto new formats such asCD-R.

Persons interested in obtaining more 9-track tapeshould contact eMag. EMag says it will show preference to customers who makelarge, non-cancelable orders. ChrisMcConnnell

Must Read Articles