This is an updated edition of the classic reference now spotlighting every state-of-the-art technology. This major revision of the classic reference brings you completely up to date on recent changes in the field, especially those ushered in by advances in digital recording techniques. It remains the most comprehensive, single-source guide available to the technologies underlying all types of data storage as well as video and audio magnetic recording. A team of expert contributors provides you with authoritative descriptions of basic recording principles and modes, spanning both analog and digital; various storage media, including rigid disks, flexible disks, and tape; design and materials for both bulk and film heads; limits and expectations of areal densities; measurement techniques used in modern research and development labs, and more. Plus, you'll find leading-edge coverage of: Micromagentics; Magneto-resistive heads; Mechanics of the head-medium interface; Magneto-optical recording. As accessible as it is definitive, the new edition of this standard reference is the state-of-the-art that no one in the magnetic recording or a related field can afford to be without.