Re: (TV) W: CD-Rs versus CDs FYI

["Philip P. Obbard" <pobbard@yahoo.com>]

Mark, your citation is fine, but I see no citation on their part. Should I
assume that the British Library Working Party also lifted this "fact" from the
papers of Ibrahim al-Marashi?
(http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?tl=1&display=rednews/2003/02/08/build/world/i-dossier.inc)

The fact is that there is, as of yet, no formula that dictates how long CDs
will last. In 1989, there was a huge media fuss over a report that CDs would
deteriorate within 5-10 years. Now you're telling me 30 years - convenient, as
CDs first started appearing around 1983, so we won't be able to test this
theory until 2013. This reminds me of how the 1980s were filled with reports
that the world's oil supplies would run dry by 2015. And that Manhattan would
be under two feet of water by 1984.

Going solely on anecdotal evidence: how often do you hear people say that they
had a CD become unplayable (without being physically damaged - scratched,
etc.)? How often do you hear people say that a CD-R no longer plays?

--Philip

--- "Mark G. Ryan" <mgryan@cruzio.com> wrote:
> The industry is very touchy on the subject of how long aluminum pressings 
> should last, but nobody thinks it's as long as 70 years.  It's known that 
> aluminum is subject to oxidation.  
> 
> 	"Given that a CD-ROM's useable life is unknown but is currently 
> 	 thought to be of the order of 30 years" 
> 
> 		--Report of the British LIbrary Working Party on
> 		  Electronic publishing, "Impact of electronic publishing
> 		  on library services and resources in the UK"
> 
> 	http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/services/papers/bl/lirr102/3-5-1iss.html


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