Getting "tapes" into micros w/o hardware tapes

[John Gilmore]

In every large city there are computer service bureaus who specialize
in media transfers.  The timesharing house I worked for used these to
accept or generate 800 or 550 bpi tapes for customers.  The service
bureaus are pretty straightforward; you hand them one medium,
description of formats, and money, and you get back another medium.
The amount of money depends how nonstandard your requirements are.

In the one case I needed to use them personally, I bartered the
contents of the tape (Fortran source for "Adventure") for the
conversion, by calling at night and talking the operator-on-duty into
it.

If there's no service bureau in your area doing transfers to micros,
talk to local computer stores about the service (does anybody else ask
for it?  Can they help on hardware for it in return for discounted/free
conversion for their customers?) and set up the service yourself.