# Why is a tape player a "deck"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 26, 2022, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904 "2022-06-26T18:47:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/1 "2022-06-26T18:47:52Z")
Why did we have tape decks, but not vinyl LP decks or CD decks? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/2 "2022-06-26T19:14:52Z")
[Etymonline](https://www.etymonline.com/word/deck#etymonline_v_859) says it’s “in reference to the flat surface of old reel-to-reel tape recorders,” which supposedly resembled the deck of a ship. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/3 "2022-06-26T19:24:09Z")
Note that the term goes back to 1949, when the reels did lay flat on the surface rather than being perpendicular to it as they would be later. Here’s [one image](https://hackaday.com/2014/02/08/building-a-tape-recorder-in-1949/) and here’s [a different model](https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1949-vintage-eicor-tube-reel-reel-133372765), both from 1949. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/4 "2022-06-26T19:36:37Z")
I don’t doubt that may be the origin, but nothing about these designs reminds me of a ship’s deck. Interesting that neither of those examples uses the word “deck”. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/5 "2022-06-26T19:43:36Z")
You don’t logic language. You approach it cautiously, assuming it might bite if disturbed. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/6 "2022-06-26T19:55:34Z")
Who says it is supposed to be a _ship’s_ deck, as opposed to a deck more generally? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/7 "2022-06-26T20:35:36Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > but not vinyl LP decks Because they were called ‘Record Decks’ instead. Edit: and I think this makes sense of the term ‘deck’ - a record player/turntable is a flat horizontal ‘deck’ onto which you load the vinyl record. By the time cassette tape player/recorder devices hit the market, the term ‘record deck’ was already established, so if you were adding a new tape player separate to your setup, it seems only natural that this additional music playing device would also be called a ‘deck’. The term ‘CD Deck’ does also exist, but by the time CD players became mainstream, not so many people were buying separate audio components, so none of it was ‘decks’ or ‘amps’ or whatever, it was just ‘a HiFi’ or ‘a music centre’ ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/8 "2022-06-26T20:45:05Z")
The link at etymoline makes the history pretty clear. And a quote of the OED at Wordwizard also hits that button, as an extension of flat surface from the original ship’s deck. > **DECK** : 3b) . . . . By extension, any kind of floor or platform, as the floor of a pier or landing-stage, or the platform or roadway of a deck-bridge. 3f) [1949] The surface of a tape recorder above which the tape moves, together with its attachments such as the motor(s) and other mechanisms, the magnetic heads, and the circuits immediately associated with them, the whole being built as a single unit; any device for moving tape from one spool to another past magnetic heads; more fully as _tape deck_. Also, the corresponding part of a system for playing gramophone [[phonograph]] records. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/9 "2022-06-26T20:51:18Z")
So ‘tape deck’ precedes ‘record deck’? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/10 "2022-06-26T20:53:12Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > nothing about these designs reminds me of a ship’s deck Ahoy there, shipmate! It’s a flat horizontal surface that hands manipulate things on. The posts that the spools fit on (or more so the longer one that the record fits on) even look like little masts… ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/11 "2022-06-26T22:22:27Z")
I’ve heard people refer to CD decks. E.g., in cars. Similarly “stereo decks” to refer to car audio … decks. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2022, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/12 "2022-06-26T22:34:51Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > > [@CookingWithGas](#): > > > > nothing about these designs reminds me of a ship’s deck > > Ahoy there, shipmate! It’s a flat horizontal surface that hands manipulate things on. The posts that the spools fit on (or more so the longer one that the record fits on) even look like little masts… They also have capstans (another nautical term). ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/13 "2022-06-27T01:17:05Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Because they were called ‘Record Decks’ instead. Interesting. I can indeed find some references to this term but I’ve never heard anyone call it that. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/14 "2022-06-27T01:48:32Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > never heard anyone call it that [musicradar](https://www.musicradar.com/news/technics-sl-1200m7l-turntable-50th-anniversary), April 07, 2022: > 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of Technics’ legendary SL-1200 turntable - arguably the most iconic DJing deck of all time - and to celebrate, the company has released a limited-edition model: the SL-1200M7L. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/15 "2022-06-27T01:49:34Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I’ve never heard anyone call it that When I were a lad, the term “record deck” was a standard term synonymous with “turntable” for that part of a high end component system. Not any old cheap record player with an integrated amp & speaker. ETA: googling the two terms seems to support the fact that they are still used this way. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/16 "2022-06-27T02:01:38Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Note that the term goes back to 1949, when the reels did lay flat on the surface rather than being perpendicular to it as they would be later. I’m drawing a blank on trying to visualize a tape-playing-machine on which the reels lay perpendicular to the surface. Now to be sure, a lot of tape machines stood upright (or could be operated either upright or laying down). [![](https://www.hifiengine.com/images/model/sony_tc-270.jpg) ](https://www.hifiengine.com/images/model/sony_tc-270.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/17 "2022-06-27T02:06:45Z")
There was an entirely different (and, I thought, bizarre) usage of the word “deck”. I worked in Data Processing in the early 1970s, when much data was still on stacks of punched IBM-style cards. I worked with several applications programs that dealt with such piles of data, and I studied their user manuals. (This was back in the day when there were user manuals, and sometimes people read them.) I was very confused by their usage of the word “deck”, which I intuitively understood to mean a “deck of cards”, that is, a whole bunch of cards together. Something about the usage of the word “deck” just didn’t seem right. Then I figured it out: In the Data Processing world of those days, a “deck” meant a _single card_, a.k.a. a _unit record_. It took me a long time to work my head around the usage that a “deck” meant a single card. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/18 "2022-06-27T02:36:00Z")
You’re right, of course. I was thinking of the reels being perpendicular to the table surface and often protruding like this. > **[Vintage Reel Reel Tape Recorder Deck Stock Vector (Royalty Free) 57384598 |...](https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/vintage-reel-tape-recorder-deck-57384598)** > > Find Vintage Reel Reel Tape Recorder Deck stock images in HD and millions of other royalty-free stock photos, 3D objects, illustrations and vectors in the Shutterstock collection. Thousands of new, high-quality pictures added every day. > [@Senegoid](#): > > I was very confused by their usage of the word “deck”, which I intuitively understood to mean a “deck of cards”, that is, a whole bunch of cards together. Something about the usage of the word “deck” just didn’t seem right. > > Then I figured it out: In the Data Processing world of those days, a “deck” meant a _single card_, a.k.a. a _unit record_. It took me a long time to work my head around the usage that a “deck” meant a single card. But this confuses me. A single card was always a punch card (or punched card after the holes were made). But a deck was the collected group needed for a program. Here’s [one of many examples I found](https://www.righto.com/2021/02/an-ibm-1401-mainframe-computer-at.html). > In this blog post, I describe the interesting hardware and software techniques used in the vintage IBM 1401 computer to load software from a deck of punch cards. And another from WIkiwand. > A punched card is a flexible write-once medium that encodes data, most commonly 80 characters. Groups or “decks” of cards form programs and collections of data. Your firm had to be an outlier. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/19 "2022-06-27T02:46:42Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > And another from WIkiwand. > > > A punched card is a flexible write-once medium that encodes data, most commonly 80 characters. Groups or “decks” of cards form programs and collections of data. > > Your firm had to be an outlier. No, not my firm. I’m referring to application programs – one by some commercial firm (not my company) and one by a major computer manufacturer – for manipulating large amounts of data. Their user manuals consistently used the word “deck” for what we would call a “record” or a “unit record”. I was a programmer and a computer operator, and the word “deck” (of cards) had always meant to me, a bunch of cards together, just as a deck of playing cards. Also from wikiwand: [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/Punched_card_program_deck.agr.jpg/440px-Punched_card_program_deck.agr.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/Punched_card_program_deck.agr.jpg/440px-Punched_card_program_deck.agr.jpg) Caption under this picture: > [@](#): > > A single program deck, with individual subroutines marked. The markings show the effects of editing, as cards are replaced or reordered. But these Data Processing applications had a jargon of their own. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2022, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904/20 "2022-06-27T02:52:39Z")
I see. That’s a different use of “Data Processing” than I remember. Did they use Fortran or were they beyond that by then? Hey kids. Whenever you talk about how easy we had it in boomer times, imagine walking over to the computer center one day and then walking back the next to see if your program ran or if you made a typo in card #162? And it was uphill both ways. You wouldn’t last a day. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-a-tape-player-a-deck/966904.md?page=2)