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A reel of magnetic tape about 4 inchesin diameter and one inch wide. Unlike today's macrotapes,microtape drivers allowed random access to the data, andtherefore could be used to support file systems and even forswapping (this was generally done purely for hack value,as they were far too slow for practical use). DECtape was avariant on LINCtape.In their heyday DECtapes were used in pretty much the sameways one would now use a floppy disk: as a small, portableway to save and transport files and programs.