Stan wrote:
> We bought a tape eraser at Radio Shack a few years ago.  It sems to
> work pretty well, but it has a short duty cycle (something like on for
> 5 minutes, off for 30 minutes).

I believe RS sells two different models, a light duty and a heavy duty
one.  As Stan says, even the heavy duty one is something like only 1/3
duty cycle, so if you decide to go this route you'll need 3-4 of the darn
things if you want to work continuously.  It's also a very tedious
process, and since there is no feedback as to when each tape is "erased"
there is a good chance that some tapes will get through the process
with easily recoverable data (should anyone bother to look).

Having them shredded is probably the best option if you really care about
the data that's on them, otherwise the do-it-yourself method is probably
fine if you have the time/patience for it and someone who wants the
tapes when you're done.

G.