Magnetic tape allows for inexpensive mass storage of information
and so is a key part of the computer revolution. The IBM 726 was
one of the first practical high-speed magnetic tape systems for
electronic digital computers. Announced on May 21, 1952, the
system used a unique ‘vacuum channel’ method of keeping a loop
of tape circulating between two points allowing the tape drive
to start and stop the tape in a split-second. The Model 726 was
first sold with IBM’s first electronic digital computer the
Model 701 and could store 2 million digits per tape—an enormous
amount at the time. It rented for $850 a month.