On Mon, Apr 1, 2013 at 5:12 PM, Shai Drori <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> The way I see it, 10 years ago 6-8 hours was enough for me usually to get a
> tape going, but now 24 hours is a minimum with 2-4 days normal. At this
> rate, how many days or weeks will be needed in another 10 years time to play
> problem tapes?
> Shai

It's like anything else - it's really unknown at this point. The
tapes might stabilize at some point. Or maybe get worse.

I've been reading in recent months that film archivists are less
concerned about nitrate film decomposition than they were twenty years
ago. If the films are kept in a stable environment and monitored
regularly for early signs of problems, they're stable longer than
initially thought. Archivists have much more experience with nitrate
material than they used to.

Audio tape is relatively young compared to nitrate based film, so
we're probably still learning what will happen to it in the longer
term.

Randy