Klarinet Archive - Posting 000953.txt from 1998/10

From: "Mark Charette" <charette@-----.org>
Subj: Re: [kl] re: Klarinet Archive availability -- FOREVER!!!!!
Date: Wed, 21 Oct 1998 18:50:53 -0400

From: edward farmer <efarmer@-----.com>

>While I agree with the thinking before you send part, I don't think it
>will be " readable " for all that long. The plastic in the cds is only
>projected to last 10 to 20 years ( & I thought my music cds would
>outlive me -bummer ). And who knows how long before cd-rom players are
>replaced by something "better". How many on the list could play, today,
>in your own home any of these formats: 78 rpm or 45 rpm records, 8
track
>tape or even 5&1/2 inch floppies? I know they could be played/read by
>someone, somewhere but they are not commonly done today and hence we
are
>losing that information - which may not be all bad. :) Most ( but not
>all ) of the good stuff gets ported on to the next medium. Having said
>that I'd still buy the archives. Edward

The US News & World report in February had an article that completely
misstated archival qualities of CDROMs. The article (and a further one
in the Washington Post) was of dubious quality in whole.

The US Government Archiving studies put 10 years as a minimum if the
CDROM-R (recordable CDROM material, not your music CD, which is made a
totally different way) is stored in an area which has constant UV
bobardment. They estimate the usable lifetime to be in excess of 50
years, and digital recordings can be duplicated exactly well before
their alloted lifespan.

----
Mark Charette@-----.org
Webmaster, http://www.sneezy.org/clarinet
All-around good guy and devil-may-care flying fool.
"There can be no freedom without discipline." - Nadia Boulanger

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