I gotta say, I HATE "eBooks." The day I can't read words printed on paper may be the day I stop 
reading "books." I also don't like reading newspapers on a tablet, but I'm getting used to it. The 
physical paper definitely causes me to retain knowledge better, because I can clip and rip and keep. 
Don is absolutely right about film negatives. And wait until the majority of people have all their 
personal photos in "the cloud" and something goes very wrong like a cyber-warfare attack or 
something. I don't believe data can be "permanently" backed up in a way where it's easily 
retreivable like a printed book or black and white photo negative. It's much more a hope and pray 
thing with digital data, no matter how "fail safe" one thinks his system might be.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Cox" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, May 16, 2014 10:07 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] the end of the CD and DVD (and the CD and DVD player)?


> On 16/05/2014, Music Hunter wrote:
>
>> Hi Tom & friends,
>>
>>
>>
>> Is there any evidence pointing to that happening?
>>
>>
>>
>> I am still enjoying CDs obtained when CDs were first introduced in the
>> early '80's with no sign of self-degrading in over 30 years. I'm
>> trying to think of what other products we have that have that still
>> work as well as they did when brand new.
>>
> CDs (except for a few that were faulty in manufacture) are lasting very
> well. They also seem to be still in demand by people who really care
> about music and will not accept lossy compression.
>
> There are plenty of books around that are several hundred years old and
> work as well as new.
>
> Less extreme, I have good camera lenses from the 1960s that give
> excellent image quality on today's digital camera. And black-and-white
> negatives last for decades at least.
>>
> A fifty year old pencil that hadn't been used up would draw as well
> today as it did when new, and fifty year old drawing paper is perfectly
> OK. I have some inherited watercolour paints that still work as well as
> new, and may be up to a century old.
>>
>> Talk about value...
>>
>
> Regards
> -- 
> Don Cox
> [log in to unmask]
>
>