IBM cassette tape

The original <a href="/facts/IBM_Personal_Computer/yhcJGMPL">IBM Personal Computer</a> and <a href="/facts/IBM_PCjr/Jd6byBEW">IBM PCjr</a> includes support for storing data and programs on <a href="/facts/Compact_cassette_tape/w8I5uyfs">compact cassette tape</a>.
It was common for <a href="/facts/Home_computer/CDEPVd1T">home computers</a> of the time, such as the <a href="/facts/Apple_II/se82CNvK">Apple II</a>, <a href="/facts/Commodore_64/3TPcKDbb">Commodore 64</a> and <a href="/facts/BBC_Micro/YJxxPlIl">BBC Micro</a>, to use cassette tapes for storage due to the lower cost of hardware and media compared to floppy disks. A wide range of commercial home computer software was available on tape throughout the 1980s.
<a href="/facts/BYTE/xWovF95Q">BYTE</a> asked in 1982, "I'm still looking for someone who uses [IBM cassette tape]. Did IBM seriously think its system would compete with the <a href="/facts/VIC-20/bLE8KkRE">VIC-20</a> and <a href="/facts/ZX81/I0uDYb3n">ZX81</a>?" The IBM PC cassette format was not popular since very few were shipped without at least one <a href="/facts/Floppy_disk_drive/rShxfuxa">floppy disk drive</a>, and apart from one diagnostic tape available from <a href="/facts/IBM/QszA7nwd">IBM</a>, there seems never to have been any software sold on tape except IBM Typing Tutor created by <a href="/facts/Microsoft/nGIDDXdx">Microsoft</a>, and the interface was not included on the follow-up <a href="/facts/IBM_Personal_Computer_XT/5uHxtq6H">PC XT</a>. Despite this lack of popularity, up until the original PC's discontinuation in 1987, IBM continued to offer a Model 104 which shipped without a <a href="/facts/Floppy_disk/rShxfuxa">floppy disk</a> drive.
The IBM PCjr was also seldom sold without a floppy disk drive, but it also had two <a href="/facts/ROM_cartridge/mWLcNez7">ROM cartridge</a> slots for loading commercial software, which offered better convenience and reliability.

IBM cassette tape open-in-new

IBM cassette tape