If I had a vacume column drive which floated the tape over the heads without contact I suspect this would not be a problem :-) -- Look at what John B. is doing at readtapes.com Normal heads apply several pounds of pressure from the tape to the head surface. By using magnetorestrictive heads, you can cut that to a few ounces. If you thing about how a normal head works, it closes the loop of an electromagnet with the oxide on the tape, so it REQUIRES physical contact to work.