Richard - I've printed out for my reference your description of the storage system you are using. Yes, it's all data, whether analog or digital. And a system like yours still needs to be tended by human beings, whereas CDs stored in a fortified bunker could conceivably withstand an atomic blast. But in that case we may have yet more serious problems, requiring leaving behind instructions for building a playback device (understandable even by an alien cultures) - much as NASA has done with the gold record riding the Voyager probe far beyond our solar system into deep space. http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/goldenrec.html Russ *************** Russ Hamm Ed Tech Specialist National School District San Diego, CA http://nsd.us