> the original process

The "original process" of integrated circuit design was cutting rubylith - this was well into the 70s. The venerable MOS 6502 was done this way as was the Intel 8008.

The verb tapeout was used for litho prior to integrated circuits though, back into the 40s.

But you should realize that PCBs and integrated circuits predate generally available computers and digital data storage.

> exported to a data tape for transport to the fab.

There was an article in The Register years ago that promulgated this misattribution - it was generally never a reliable source, no exception here.