Apple-1 Cassette Interface

The Apple-1 Cassette Interface (ACI) is one of the first peripheral products to be released by the Apple Computer Company. Priced at 75 in 1976, the card could be added to the Apple-1 computer's expansion slot to allow it to use cassette tape media for data storage.

Development
Steve Wozniak designed the Apple-1 board with an expansion slot so that he could work on a data storage solution after the computer itself was completed. Cassette media was selected due to its low price and wide availability.

Usage
Apple recommended or other premium tape recorders at or above $40 for reliable data storage. The Panasonic model that was available at the time was the RQ-309DS. Data was recorded through (like a modem) at the rate of 1200. Reliability was found to be improved by replacing the 10 capacitor on the board with a 100nF version.

The card was no longer needed when the Apple II was introduced in 1977 with its own built-in cassette interface.