Dude would just walk up to the tape drive, masterfully tweak the screw for a second, and it’d work.

Me too! For some reason I was the only guy in school who could do that. Fun times. 😊

Because I had a floppy drive and that’s what I obviously preferred to use.

In the beginning these were not available. Also I remember them costing the same as the C64 itself. As soon as I could afford one I got one obviously.

I just another item that could a generational riddle: the hole-punch that made your one-sided floppy two-sided.