The great return of magnetic tape

Hervé Poirier, editor-in-chief of the scientific magazine “Epsiloon”, tells us about the return of a techno icon from the 70s/80s: the good old magnetic tape cassette, which will celebrate its centenary in 2028.

It’s an old piece of technology, which will celebrate its centenary in 2028. The less young remember, undoubtedly a little nostalgic, this very thin strip of black plastic, rolled up in a cassette. It allowed you to listen to Run-DMC hits on a portable music player. Or to watch Back to the future, in VHS mode on VCR. Details from Hervé Poirier, editor-in-chief of the scientific magazine Epsiloon.

franceinfo: Is this the big comeback of this vintage magnetic tape?

Hervé Poirier: After having temporarily been replaced by the CD, 20 years ago we believed that in terms of data storage, hard drives had definitely won. Well no: the demand for magnetic tape is exploding.

Please note: this does not mean that boom boxes and VCRs will return to homes. The issue is actually in the data storage centers.

What is the point of this technology which seems a little outdated?

It is firstly linked to the global context: every two years, the quantity of data recorded in the world doubles. This is not sustainable with hard drives in data centers, which constantly consume a lot of energy and water. The magnetic strip only needs energy when it is consulted. And it is experiencing dazzling technological progress.

While the information density on hard disk stagnates, Fujifilm presented a few months ago a cassette whose tape, equipped with 20,000 storage tracks, can contain up to 50 terabytes of data, the equivalent of 330,000 hours of videos, VHS quality.

An IBM prototype even goes up to almost 4 million hours of videos! Knowing that the cassette is more reliable (the error rate is 10,000 times lower than on a hard drive), with a better lifespan (30 years, compared to 10), less expensive (it is mainly plastic), and more secure (not possible to hack them).

Is it the technology of hard drives that risks disappearing?

No. Because magnetic tape has a drawback: accessibility. Older people also remember: to record or play a cassette, it is necessary to mechanically rewind the tape. The data to which we want to have quick access will therefore remain stored on hard drives: it is the colder data, resulting from scientific research, large companies or government agencies, which will go on tapes.

It is the relationship to immediacy that is being rethought. And in this new world, yes, the good old cassette is back.