<s>
The	O
Exatron	B-Device
Stringy	I-Device
Floppy	I-Device
(	O
or	O
ESF	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
continuous-loop	O
tape	O
drive	O
developed	O
by	O
Exatron	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
introduced	O
an	O
S-100	B-Architecture
stringy	B-Device
floppy	I-Device
drive	O
at	O
the	O
1978	O
West	O
Coast	O
Computer	O
Faire	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
version	O
for	O
the	O
Radio	B-Device
Shack	I-Device
TRS-80	I-Device
in	O
1979	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Exatron	O
sold	O
about	O
4,000	O
TRS-80	B-Device
drives	O
by	O
August	O
1981	O
for	O
$249.50	O
each	O
,	O
stating	O
that	O
it	O
was	O
"	O
our	O
best	O
seller	O
by	O
far	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
device	O
is	O
capable	O
of	O
reading	O
and	O
writing	O
random	B-General_Concept
access	I-General_Concept
data	O
files	O
(	O
unlike	O
a	O
datacassette	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Embedded	O
Systems	O
magazine	O
,	O
the	O
Exatron	B-Device
Stringy	I-Device
Floppy	I-Device
uses	O
Manchester	B-Protocol
encoding	I-Protocol
,	O
achieving	O
14K	O
read-write	O
speeds	O
and	O
the	O
code	O
controlling	O
the	O
device	O
was	O
developed	O
by	O
Li-Chen	O
Wang	O
,	O
who	O
also	O
wrote	O
a	O
Tiny	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
,	O
the	O
basis	O
for	O
the	O
TRS-80	B-Language
Model	I-Language
I	I-Language
Level	I-Language
I	I-Language
BASIC	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
'	O
s	O
Gazette	O
,	O
the	O
Exatron	B-Device
Stringy	I-Device
Floppy	I-Device
for	O
the	O
VIC-20	B-Device
and	O
the	O
Commodore	O
64	O
was	O
reviewed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Calling	O
the	O
peripheral	O
"	O
a	O
viable	O
alternative	O
"	O
to	O
tape	O
or	O
disk	O
,	O
the	O
magazine	O
noted	O
that	O
"	O
under	O
ideal	O
conditions	O
,	O
a	O
Stringy	B-Device
Floppy	I-Device
can	O
outperform	O
a	O
VIC-1540/1541	O
disk	O
drive	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Texas	O
Instruments	O
licensed	O
the	O
Stringy	B-Device
Floppy	I-Device
as	O
the	O
Waferdrive	B-Device
for	O
its	O
cancelled	O
TI	B-Device
99/2	I-Device
computer	O
and	O
a	O
Compact	B-Device
Computer	I-Device
40	I-Device
peripheral	O
which	O
never	O
shipped	O
.	O
</s>
