According to a German "expert" physicist, it's the cassette tapes. I can't figure out if this news item is a hoax. I saw it on MSN first and then quoted on a CDfreaks forum. All I know is I found it terribly depressing. No one really knows how long these fuckers will last. They might just degrade in 2 to 5 years. I can't seem to find the information I need on the web. There's supposed to be software you can get to read the ATIP part of a CD-R that will allow you to find out the manufacturer of the CD, but I can't seem to find software that will allow me to do this without paying about $80 for the latest version of Nero. It's important to know the manufacturer because you can't tell who the manufacturer is by just knowing the brand, you see?
All I know is all the info I have seems to point towards Kodak as the best manufacturer if you want to have the information on your CD-R's last. I used to trade with a guy who had an INSANELY large collection of punk music from around the entire globe and funnily enough, he always used Kodak CD-R's...at least it said that ON them as the brand. But I can't figure out for sure if they were *manufactured* by Kodak if I can't find this software that will allow me to read the ATIP info on a CD. I figure he's the type of guy who would have given thought to these things so maybe he knew what he was doing and I should just look for Kodak CD-R's. But I don't know where the hell I can buy those either, or if they're even being made anymore.
I feel like a fool. All this time I thought that by transferring rare things to CD I'd be preserving them. Now I realize I don't really know that for sure at all.
And in general, I'm really just afraid that technology is slowly eating us all for breakfast, lunch and dinner and at the end of the long day we'll end up nowhere. I mean this seriously. As much as we love computers and cell phone gadgets, the reality is they end up as junk, sent to third world countries in giant mountains of seeping harmful chemicals.
Maybe at the end of the day, only if I have a piano, and only if I press a key on it, that's all there is. Maybe that is the only thing real, the only thing that will last.
I realize I'm being possibly melodramatic here, but I really do have some very rare music on CD right now and I want to know what the fuck I'm supposed to do with it. God it's been so long since I've recorded a CD to tape...I mean...you CAN do that can't you? Fuck I can't even remember. But yes...now that I recall..you CAN do that. Okay. So that's the solution then. I'll just record them to tape.
Which will last longer: burned CD's or cassette tapes?
I mean I'm not talking about what happens when you don't take care of your CD's...I take care of mine. I just mean...
Oh never mind. I've had a few drinks by now. I just needed to get this out of my system, and now I have.
And Kate Bush's album is almost over, too. She's helped me, you see.
Any tech-heads out there have any input, I'd love to hear it.
Oh never mind. I've had a few drinks by now. I just needed to get this out of my system, and now I have.
And Kate Bush's album is almost over, too. She's helped me, you see.
Any tech-heads out there have any input, I'd love to hear it.