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Mysterious 20-Year-Old Analog Media?
discHead asks: "Presently I work for a transcription company. We received an interesting medium that we're having trouble identifying. It looks like a 3.5-inch floppy, but just the magnetic disc itself--no plastic shell, not even a metal hub in the center. It's punched with a small center hole and an additional wedge-shaped hole nearby (but in a different position and smaller than the rectangular hole in a standard floppy's metal hub). It's foil-stamped with a 3M logo and a serial number, but 3M referred us to Imation and Imation is stumped. Our only other clues: we're told it's an analog(!) audio recording and that it dates back to about 1985. Our Google research has yet to turn up anything. Anyone know what in tarnation this thing is and what we can do with it?"
Show pictures and serial number, or buy us a crystal ball
picture(1) == words x 1000;
You have come closer than anyone (on or off Slashdot) to hitting the nail on the head. Indeed this is voice dictation we're looking at. But not even the people who sent us the disc know anything about this medium or how to play it; I guess it came from pretty deep in their archives. Can you remember anything else about the machine you had? (brand, model, etc.?)