Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic storage consisting of a thin magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic film, historically used to record sound, video and computer data. It was developed in Germany in 1928 by the engineer Fritz Pfleumer for sound recording, building on earlier magnetic wire recording developed in Denmark. Germany kept wartime advances in tape recording secret, and the technology reached the United States only after the Allies recovered German recording equipment at the end of the Second World War, when American engineers including Jack Mullin brought it into commercial use, aided by the entertainer Bing Crosby's investment in the manufacturer Ampex.
Facts
YearSourced to the subject's own account SignificanceSourced to the subject's own accountMagnetic tape replaced live-only radio broadcasting with recorded sound and later became the primary medium for computer data storage and backup. 1 FAQs
Why did Bing Crosby take up tape recording?
He disliked live radio shows and was already recording on transcription discs before tape.
Bing Crosby disliked doing live radio shows, and that dislike was behind his first move into technical innovation. Before tape he had used electrical transcription, a phonographic disc format developed for radio in the late 1920s. Jack Mullin later brought German tape recording equipment into commercial use in the United States.
Connections
In Field
Source Magnetic Tape (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Magnetic Tape (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead section, origin sentence
It was developed in Germany in 1928, based on the earlier magnetic wire recording from Denmark.
Uses and Audio section, broadcasting impact sentence
Magnetic tape revolutionized sound recording and reproduction and broadcasting. It allowed radio, which had always been broadcast live, to be recorded for later or repeated airing.
In Field: Electrical Engineering, Introduction
Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic storage made of a thin, magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic film.
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