Re: [TUHS] Spacewar at Bell Labs

[John Foust <jfoust@threedee.com>]

At 12:34 AM 1/15/2020, Earl Baugh wrote:
>Why not build a variation of this with an Arduino?
> <https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Paper-TapePunch-Card-Maker-and-Reader/>https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Paper-TapePunch-Card-Maker-and-Reader/. You could use cardboard rather than wood if it’s just a one time job. ( or scan the tape into files and process digitally ?) 

We're so close, I wish someone would figure out a way to let
a contemporary office scanner like the Fujitsu ScanSnap to
handle paper tapes.  Reliable feed mechanism, nice scanner,
just needs a little software and maybe a guide.  And a way
to re-spool the tape.  Darn, just got complicated.  

Same thing for a new way to read a magtape.  You'd think it 
could be done with a universal read head and some software.

Nine years ago I visited <http://www.comco-inc.com/>http://www.comco-inc.com/ , perhaps
one of the last sellers and refurbishers of 9-tracks.  I dropped
off three 9-tracks I didn't need.  He seems to be surviving 
because oil survey companies still call and are willing to 
write five-figure checks for particular working hardware.

- John