The first fifty years of magnetic recording centered around one basic format. It was, and is, called longitudinal recording. The medium it-self progressed from wire, first used by Poulsen, to steel tape, to magnetic-coated paper tape, to the magnetic-coated acetate tapes commonly in use in the early 1950's. Quality of reproduction steadily improved over the years as well, and by 1952, magnetic tape recording was becoming the standard for audio mastering, broadcasting, and instrumentation (data) recordings.
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