microtape hardware, storage
/mi:'kroh-tayp/ Occasionally used to mean a DECtape, as opposed to a macrotape.
Apparently the term "microtape" was actually the official term used within DEC for these tapes until someone coined the word "DECtape", which, of course, sounded sexier to the marketroids. Another version of the story holds that someone discovered a conflict with another company's "microtape" trademark.
[The Jargon File]
(1995-03-16)