Why do smart people still say video “tape”

Is it just me (I assume it is, being a bit obsessive) or does it bother anyone when the word “tape” is still used to describe references to video recordings.

It seems like everyday, news anchors and reporters say, “the criminal was caught on video tape.” Or, given it’s football season, the losing coach almost always says, “we’re going to have to look at the tape to see what went wrong” to explain the reasons for the loss.

Heck, our friends and family still use the word to describe recording a show that they need recorded, “could you tape it for me?”  I guess there are bigger issues at hand, but one would think in the era of everything digital (cloud, social media, video streaming, surveillance), we would know that YouTube and Netflix aren’t pressing play on millions of VCRs, or our home DVR never needs ejecting, or that crystal clear license plate number on the getaway car could not possibly be recorded on 1990s technology.

Tape should be avoided at all costs…speak the truth people.

  • “The criminal was caught on hard drive.”
  • “We’ll have to check our hard drive recording to see what went wrong.”
  • “Could you record it for me?” is good enough.  

The days of “tape” are long gone.  Just look at this infographic for reference. I know it’s personal video’s evolution, but let’s face it, commercial video ain’t using tape either.

For those that may argue that the word “tape” is a verb that is used when referring to something that is recorded no matter the media.  Well, dictionary.com says the definition of “tape” is “to record something on magnetic tape.” Sorry, no out there.

 

2013-09-10T11:28:04+00:00

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  1. […] high capacity, low cost, reliable disk based storage.  Without it, we may still be looking at video tapes. . . Tweet October 16, 2013 – 9:08 am | By Mark Wojtasiak | Posted in Security, […]

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