from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
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.
[{Jargon File}]
(1995-03-16)