Computer tapes generally had no leaders on them so you could record on them immediately. I remember having a bunch of them as a child and I would save type-in programs on them. I never used them for pirated games. I would use C90's for those!
What makes you think these are recent? I used these on my Spectrum back in the day, I think they started appearing on market stalls and in small computer shops around 1983. The "Made in Hong Kong" is a giveaway as well - I'd say this puts them around 1988 at the latest; after that the cheapo tapes started to be made in Shenzhen and the quality really started to slide. In fact I think they will be pre-1985 as the later Computape cassettes cheapened out and just resembled an ordinary type zero cassette. I think the Computape brand was originally an Altai trademark but there were other tapes with the same branding that didn't perform as well without the Altai branding like your one so I suspect there were clones around. Pretty sure the tapes themselves came from Acme, as the shells matched up with the designs they used.
@CBitsTech quick question, I bought a sharp portable minidisc player on Facebook market, and it has 3 tiny screws missing. Any idea where to get replacements?
Hehe, I know these cassette tapes, I still have one with the same design but with chrome II lettering and Pink Floyd on it.
Computer tapes generally had no leaders on them so you could record on them immediately. I remember having a bunch of them as a child and I would save type-in programs on them. I never used them for pirated games. I would use C90's for those!
I used whatever I could get for free or cheap. C90s, yep, more minutes, more games 😁
What makes you think these are recent? I used these on my Spectrum back in the day, I think they started appearing on market stalls and in small computer shops around 1983. The "Made in Hong Kong" is a giveaway as well - I'd say this puts them around 1988 at the latest; after that the cheapo tapes started to be made in Shenzhen and the quality really started to slide.
In fact I think they will be pre-1985 as the later Computape cassettes cheapened out and just resembled an ordinary type zero cassette. I think the Computape brand was originally an Altai trademark but there were other tapes with the same branding that didn't perform as well without the Altai branding like your one so I suspect there were clones around.
Pretty sure the tapes themselves came from Acme, as the shells matched up with the designs they used.
Wow, thanks for the info. Very detailed, thanks.
I bought a computer tape for the same purpose, cheaper than the other type although the price has come down on ali express
@@1969longshanks Handy for running in an auto-reverse deck, too
@CBitsTech quick question, I bought a sharp portable minidisc player on Facebook market, and it has 3 tiny screws missing. Any idea where to get replacements?
@@1969longshanks No, sorry, no idea. Maybe buy another one for spares (if they're cheap).