A curious Zx80/81 add-on from a Your Computer ad - The ZX99 tape controller

[sheddyian]

Look at the price!!

Why would you want 2 tape inputs and 2 outputs?

[mrtinb]

First of all it supports tape drives that is started with signal.

You could make more advanced software.

Read in program from Input Tape 1, and change tapes to following:

Input Tape 1 is product file version 12.
Input Tape 2 is customer file version 35.
Output Tape 1 is product file version 13.
Output Tape 2 is customer file version 36.

Program requests customer number.
Input Tape 2 is activated, and reads record 1, and stops tape. Check if it is correct customer. If not save customer to Output Tape 2. Continue until customer is found.
Invoice header is printed on the printer.
Input Tape 1 is started loading one record at a time with your products. If product is selected print line on invoice. Product file is written to Output Tape 1, and selected record is updated with updated stock.
When all products are read through, the updated products are on Output Tape 1.
Customer record is saved with updated total purchase sum.
Rest of customers are read through, saving each record on Output Tape 2.

When the process is over, you have two new tapes with updated data for your customers and products.

Might be easier with a floppy drive, but possible with tapes. Would be impossible with a single tape drive with manual start/stop.

You get the idea.

[David G]

Were these special tape recorders common? What were they generally called?

[mrtinb]

This post talk a little about it.

https://retrocomputing.stackexchange.co ... mote-input

[David G]

Thank you. This was unknown to me before. Perhaps my cassette machine even had it, but I practically never used the microphone with it

search results: cassette recorder REM input also known as a Remote Jack

The microphone would have a switch on the side which could be used to pause the recording or playback of the tape. Journalists, academics etc would put the recorder in a bag and use the mic to start and stop the recording.
...
the remote was for dictation

And apparently the remote input was used by many early home computers to start/stop the motor

REM jack on cassette recorder

[1024MAK]

Yes, the REM “input” was fairly common on 1980s cassette tape decks intended for home computers. Some like the Acorn BBC Micro could use the REM as standard when loading or saving. That made multi part software easier.

Mark