On 06/09/2015 02:38 PM, Mark J. Blair wrote:
I am curious: NOS tapes that I bought in the last year or so came with the foam blocks, but I don't recall ever encountering either a foam block or the magic plastic tape "back in the day" on tapes from the rack that I handled as a backup operator. I presume that if they came with blocks, they were discarded when the tapes were unpacked. Is it really necessary to secure the tape end in normal use, or is it just needed during shipping to keep the tape from getting loose on the reel during transport?
Obviously for the auto-loading drives, either would be bad news. But it's for the last reason that I'm interested in the blue (well, sometimes white) tape.
--Chuck
