History (1972): QIC Data Cartridge
Introduced by 3M
This is a Press Release edited by StorageNewsletter.com on December 17, 2018 at 2:11 pmThis article was published by the Museum of Obsolete Media.
QIC Data Cartridge (1972-2000s)
QIC (Quarter Inch Cartridge) is a family of magnetic tape formats for data storage, using quarter inch tape.
The original QIC was known as a Data Cartridge and was introduced by 3M in 1972.
QIC is actually a cassette format, with two reels driven by a belt in contact with the tape, and enclosed in a robust plastic and aluminium housing. The use of a belt ensure constant speed for the tape, and neutral tension. Over time the tape can become unevenly tensioned, and a needs to be wound from beginning to end.
The tape is not attached to the reels, so if it is unwound beyound the optical end of tape markers it will become detached.
QIC Data Cartridges can hold anything between 200KB and 25GB.
The QIC International Trade Association was disbanded in 1998, after 15 million QIC Data Cartridge and Minicartridge drives installed
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