Before the introduction of magnetic tape, digital storage for early computers used punched cards, paper tape as well as more exotic technologies such as mercury delay lines and the phosphors on cathode ray tubes.

FORBES: Magnetic Tape Turns 60

Much of these increases in storage capacity will involve the introduction of technologies pioneered in the development of magnetic disk drives.

FORBES: Magnetic Tape Turns 60

However with the introduction of lighter weight and more flexible plastic substrate magnetic tapes, combined with a vacuum column to control the tension that the magnetic tape experiences during use, the IBM 726 was a prototype of the modern digital tape recording system.

FORBES: Magnetic Tape Turns 60