> 
> > Kurt Gerecke, a physicist and storage expert at IBM Deutschland GmbH, 
> > takes this view: If you want to avoid having to burn new CDs every few 
 
> > years, use magnetic tapes to store all your pictures, videos and songs 
 
> > for a lifetime.
> >
I thought that was an 'interesting' statement...
> 
> Also, the problem with tape has always been that technology changes and 
> you have to keep migrating the data to new formats.  Migration is the 
> only answer to longevity in the computer world which then relates back 
> to who is monitoring the retention schedule to alert management that 
> changing from 11" reels to 3480 is a problem and then the switch to 
> Ultriums is another and so forth.
> 
> If the Physicists really cared about media they would quit making media 
> that degrades so quickly and especially quit making it so that it 
> disappears at lower and lower temperatures while making computers that 
> run hotter and hotter.  Every crash is a grenade with the pin pulled as 
> you back up a tape by loading it to equipment that runs so hot that it 
> further degrades the back up tape.  Some of the new media is damaged at 
> 90º F. ( for our German Physicist that is only 33º C. ).  What were 
> they thinking??

90 degress F? I can damage it by putting it in my inside jacket pocket????
 that's frightening!

I'm not sure the phycicists are the ones making those decisions.
marketing, time-to-market
faster, cheaper

[quick, cheap, good: pick any two]

> At least with CD's right now you can load to hard drive and easily 
> recreate a brand new and fresh CD.  Will the tape you create for 
> longevity be readable in 10 years at any reasonable cost?
> 
If you create a tape for longevity (archival) won't it be used only a 
couple of times, then stored?
If it is stored well, then you have the issue of keeping a compatable 
drive and supporting equipment/software.
Do-able, but definately requires planning.

> In short, no computer equipment or media manufacturer invites a records 
> manager to the design planning meeting or they would start with "What's 
> the life span of this media" and "What will it be exposed to on each 
> and every use?"
> 
and, how do we make sure we can read the media, data format, compression, 
etc...
The O/S is becoming less of a problem, perhaps.
Virtual Machines are used in more places/ways all the time. The tape drive 
and interface is still required.


> At least old CD's make good coasters but what do you do with old tapes? 
>   Oh, I forgot Skeet Shooting.
> 
confetti?
streamers?

cheers
Jay


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