Editing Cassette tape (section)

===Data recording <span class="anchor" id="data"></span> ===
[[File:Commodore-Datasette-C2N-Mk1-Front.jpg|thumb|A C2N [[Datassette]] recorder for [[Commodore International|Commodore computer]]s]]
[[File:Verbatim ST-600 XD Streamer Cassette.jpg|thumb|upright|A streamer cassette for data storage, adapted from the audio Compact Cassette format]]

Floppy disk storage had become the standard data storage medium in the United States by the mid-1980s; for example, by 1983 the majority of software sold by [[Atari Program Exchange]] was on floppy. Cassette remained more popular for 8-bit computers such as the [[Commodore 64]], [[ZX Spectrum]], [[MSX]], and [[Amstrad CPC 464]] in many countries such as the United Kingdom<ref name="pountain198501">{{cite news|url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1985-01/1985_01_BYTE_10-01_Through_the_Hourglass#page/n399/mode/2up|title=The Amstrad CPC 464 | work=[[Byte (magazine)|Byte]] |date=January 1985|access-date=27 October 2013|last=Pountain |first=Dick|page=401}}</ref><ref name="dewitt198306">{{cite news|url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/v2n3/apx.html|title=APX / On top of the heap|work=Antic|date=June 1983|access-date=30 October 2013|last=DeWitt|first=Robert|archive-date=19 May 1998|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980519071611/http://www.atarimagazines.com/v2n3/apx.html|url-status=live}}</ref> (where 8-bit software was mostly sold on cassette until that market disappeared altogether in the early 1990s). Reliability of cassettes for data storage is inconsistent, with many users recalling repeated attempts to load video games;<ref name="independent rage against the machine">{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/gadgets-rage-against-the-machine-2194217.html | title=Gadgets: Rage against the machine | work=[[The Independent]] | date=26 January 2011 | access-date=31 January 2012 | quote=Many will recall fiddling around with volume controls on their computer cassette decks in the hope that Manic Miner would actually load and not crash after 30 minutes of listening to beeps and crackles.&nbsp;... 'I remember listening to Elite load on the BBC Micro for half an hour, only for it to continually fail at 98 per cent complete,' recalls Luke Peters, editor of ''[[T3 (magazine)|T3]]'' magazine. | location=London | first=David | last=Crookes | archive-date=29 January 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110129022518/http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/gadgets-rage-against-the-machine-2194217.html | url-status=live }}</ref> the [[Commodore Datasette]] used very reliable, but slow, digital encoding.<ref name="deceukelaire198502">{{cite news | url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue57/turbotape.html | title=How TurboTape Works | work=[[Compute!]] | date=February 1985 | access-date=30 October 2013 | author=De Ceukelaire, Harrie | pages=112}}</ref> In some countries, including the United Kingdom, Poland, Hungary, and the Netherlands, cassette data storage was so popular that some radio stations would broadcast computer programs that listeners could record onto cassette and then load into their computer.<ref>{{cite web |author=Lennart Benschop |title=BASICODE |url=http://www.xs4all.nl/~lennartb/basicode.html |access-date=20 January 2008 |archive-date=22 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101122091020/http://www.xs4all.nl/~lennartb/basicode.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=12 November 2021 |title=Mixtape: Cassetternet |url=https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/mixtape-cassetternet |url-status=live |access-date=24 December 2021 |website=WNYC Studios |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112152233/https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/mixtape-cassetternet |archive-date=12 November 2021 }}</ref> See [[BASICODE]].

The cassette was adapted into what is called a streamer cassette (also known as a "[[D/CAS]]" cassette), a version dedicated solely for data storage, and used chiefly for hard disk backups and other types of data. Streamer cassettes look almost exactly the same as a standard cassette, with the exception of having a notch about one quarter-inch wide and deep situated slightly off-center at the top edge of the cassette. Streamer cassettes also have a re-usable write-protect tab on only one side of the top edge of the cassette, with the other side of the top edge having either only an open rectangular hole, or no hole at all. This is due to the entire one-eighth inch width of the tape loaded inside being used by a streamer cassette drive for the writing and reading of data, hence only one side of the cassette being used. Streamer cassettes can hold anywhere from 250 kilobytes to 600 megabytes of data.<ref name="STR">{{cite web |url=https://obsoletemedia.org/streamer-cassette/ |title=Streamer Cassette (D/CAS) (late 1980s – late 1990s) |date=2019 |publisher=Museum of Obsolete Media |access-date=19 July 2019 |archive-date=19 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719191310/https://obsoletemedia.org/streamer-cassette/ |url-status=live }}</ref>