tape reader
- noun
- /teɪp ˈriːdər/
- Archaic
:
lector de cinta
- To retrieve the archived information, they had to find a working tape reader that could decode the old tapes.
Examples
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You know, NASA has the physical data tapes from the Viking mission to Mars, but at the same time can't read them because they destroyed the tape readers.
Blog text (20) -
Still have a DEC PC8-I paper tape reader/punch (8 channel) from the late '60s.
Blog text (9) -
The old tape reader was essential for accessing data from the punched tapes used in early computers.
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The technician repaired the tape reader so it could read the vital data stored on the punched tape from the 1980s.
Synonyms
A machine that reads information from paper tape with holes
A machine that reads information from paper tape with holes
A machine that looks at holes in a long paper strip to get computer instructions
How Fast
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a straightforward compositional compound: 'tape' (a strip that stores audio/video/data) combined with 'reader' (a device that reads) directly yields a device that reads tapes. The meaning follows a common, cross-linguistic nominal compounding pattern and would be inferable by a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
The noun tape reader comes from early computers that used long paper tape with holes to store 'data'. A reader was the machine part that 'read' those holes and turned them into instructions, so tape reader means a device that reads information from that tape.