Data Storage That Used Paper Tape

Before hard drives, computers stored data on long strips of paper riddled with tiny holes. By reading the presence or absence of these holes, early machines could process complex commands.

This continuous tape method was an evolution of the punched card system used in older looms. It was remarkably reliable for early digital telecommunications and automated machines. Because the tape was a single piece, it allowed for much longer sequences of data compared to individual stacks of cards. Today, these paper ribbons are considered a foundational ancestor to our modern high-speed storage.