Punched tape

Punched tape is, along with punched cards, a medium for storing data by a series of punches in paper. However, unlike a punched card, punched tape is a long continuous strip that is read into an input device which sequentially reads each row of holes as the tape goes by.

Originally used in the 1800s for such things as looms and telegraph-sending machines, paper tape was put into use for data storage and transfer for the data-processing computers of the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1970s, it was also used for providing software for early microcomputers such as the Altair. It went out of use soon after that, however, in favor of magnetic tape, floppy disks, and other media.

Links

 * Wikipedia article
 * 1965 ECMA-10 standard for punched tape
 * Telegraphic paper tape encoding systems