Record tape

Name?[]

Uhh... were they ever actually called tapes? I'm sure a better name can be found for these things. --From Andoria with Love 23:33, 20 Sep 2005 (EDT)

Are these the same as Microtapes? Jaf 15:14, 27 March 2006 (UTC)Jaf

they were consistently called "tapes" throughout the series, and their mechanics were never discussed --The Rev 18:38, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

When is A Tape Not A Tape[]

When Star Trek was created, audio and video tape recording technology was just leaving its infancy, and while other storage media were alluded to (e.g., memory banks), it appears that no other term had the same appeal for the writers. Of course, "tape" might have has much connection to the actual medium as film or disks. If the use of the word "tape" is a mere sloppy colloquialism, then I point "Tomorrow is Yesterday" as evidence. The sheer delight on Sulu's face when he sees 1/2 inch computer tape at the air base can come only from someone whose technology is far beyond such things. --GNDN 03:27, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

That makes sense, especially because the production of the original series predates any technology that physically resembled them (floppy disks). From my observations and guesses, I believe that microtapes are like floppy disks that store a digital signal that holds so much data that it could resemble an analog signal (like sound on a cassette). Either I am right (to a certain extent) or you are right and microtape is a misnomer used as a colloquialism for the benefit of the audience at the time. Either way, those Microtapes/Cards/Tapes are not really based off of the tapes of the 60s. -- AzemOcram 00:55, May 31, 2011 (UTC)

I've added some more. I disagree that the Enterprise "record tapes" resemble floppy disks. Hold an 8" or 5-1/4" floppy and one of the props, and you'll see no analog. More likely, they look like a form of the early Philips Compact Cassette (or MusiCassette), but without any visible mechanics. Then ... decades later came CompactFlash cards and other solid state memory drives and there you have it -- the TOS painted wood props come to mind. I think they made them more Compact Cassette sized for recognition. They looked like a much smaller 8-track tape case (still the common portable music medium in 1966), but smaller and more futuristic.

And before someone cries out "3.5" floppies!" those didn't come along for decades ... and also had mechanics (a spring-loaded shutter protecting the thin disk medium). -- Kojiro Vance | Talk 02:15, October 22, 2020 (UTC)

Sort-n-organizing[]

• Tape
  • "The Cage"
  • "Where No Man Has Gone Before"
  • "The Corbomite Maneuver"
  • "Balance of Terror"
  • "Tomorrow is Yesterday" (20th century type)
  • "Errand of Mercy" (aka coded directive tape)
  • "The Changeling" (tape, Programming tape (21st century-type))
  • "A Private Little War" (recorder tape and scanner tape)
  • "And the Children Shall Lead"
  • "The Tholian Web" (aka message tape)
  • "Wink of an Eye" (+tape button)
  • "The Lights of Zetar" (aka "tape deck D", Tape D, Tape H)
  • "The Way to Eden"
  • "Turnabout Intruder"
  • "The Counter-Clock Incident"
  • Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
  • Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (aka "hostage tape")
  • "Too Short A Season" (aka <hostage tape>)
  • "The Big Goodbye"
  • "Future's End" (20th century)
• Microtape
  • "Charlie X" (aka "Ship's tapes")
  • "Friday's Child"
  • "The Doomsday Machine" (aka tapes)
• Record tape
  • "The Naked Time" (aka Tapes)
  • "The Man Trap" (=library record tape)
  • "The Menagerie, Part I", "The Menagerie, Part II" (aka Tapes, "tape Able-7-Baker")
  • "Space Seed" (aka library tape)
  • "The City on the Edge of Forever" (aka library record tape)
  • "Obsession" (aka Tapes, tape record)
  • "Assignment: Earth"
  • "The Empath" (aka Tape)
• Log tape
  • "The Omega Glory"
  • "Day of the Dove"

--Alan (talk) 06:40, December 28, 2019 (UTC)