This was cutting edge tech… I remember the excitement of replacing floppy discs with CDRs…

  • hessenjunge@discuss.tchncs.de
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    5 days ago

    The screwdriver is not for the tape. It’s for adjusting the audio head so it can pick up the data on the tape.

    When someone gave you a tape with some nice games on it there was a near 100% chance you needed to adjust your datasette to read them.

    • Treczoks@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      Exactly. On the long run, we settled down on what we called a common calibration, a setting that allowed all of us locals to exchange tapes without constant tweaking.

      • hessenjunge@discuss.tchncs.de
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        3 days ago

        A flathead is still a screwdriver, is it not?

        It was a Philips screw IIRC. You can also use a flathead screwdriver on them but you shouldn’t IMHO.

        • Farid@startrek.website
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          4 days ago

          Then I misunderstood and was thinking of a different adjustment of the head. The one I was thinking about us when you wedge the screwdriver behind the head and bend it otwards a little for better contact. For that you need a flat tool.