On 03/27/2016 09:04 PM, Stewart C. Russell wrote:
I just started to watch the TVO episode and had a good laugh of the tape loading the software Hey, don't knock 'em. They were cheap and pretty reliable. For some reason (import tariffs? lower disposable income?) floppy drives were
On 2016-03-27 05:19 PM, Dev Guy wrote: pretty rare in the UK. They were still faster than a Commodore 64 disk drive, though. Odd that a company that had its own chip fab was so profligate with resources, when UK computers - built from generic chips and a whole load of corner-cutting - could do more with much less.
If you wish to relive the joys of tape data storage, he's a KCS format reader/writer that I've used to send and receive data from very old computers:
http://dabeaz.blogspot.ca/2010/08/decoding-superboard-ii-cassette-audio.html
If you want a more useful transfer method, Kamal Mostafa's minimodem is included in most distros. It's a general purpose software FSK modem. For maximal annoyance of everyone around you, try using minimodem and your computer speakers to send files to a nearby computer. It really works!
Here's an article that includes the Kansas City Standard cassette interface. It's from the March 1976 issue of Byte Magazine, starting on page 32, in the "Bit Boffer" article. There is also mention of it on pages 31& 32 of the very first issue, Sept. 1975, of Byte, but I couldn't find an online copy of it. Both articles were written by Don Lancaster, who also wrote some books on digital logics. https://ia800308.us.archive.org/12/items/byte-magazine-1976-03/1976_03_BYTE_...