Cassette Tape Drive for Atari 400 and 800 Computers - Dismantled for reference and curiosity
A solid unit the 1010 was the replacement for the Atari 410 tape drive. While intended for the 400 and 800 the 1010 and its predecessor are also both compatible with the Atari XE (XEGS).
Both the 410 and 1010 run through the Atari SIO (Serial I/O) bus which is disturbingly similar to modern day USB 1 ports. The other interesting feature is that it was a dual track system. This meant it could read data on one track while simultaneously playing audio from the other.
With this option, game loading time could be accompanied by music or as was popular in Atari's renowned education range, a real person's voiceover prepping you for the next segment. This was a genius design and for its time saw Atari's educational software stand out far above competitors.
