From: Patent Tactics, George Brock-Nannestad Hello, Jerry Hartke and Konrad Strauss responded to my plea for ensuring that drives also display longevity. These were some of the words: > on 8/9/05 8:54 AM, Jerry Hartke at [log in to unmask] wrote: > > > One key problem is that there are no standards for drives, only for media > > quality. What determines whether a drive is acceptable or not, other than > > complete loss of functionality? > > That's a great point and one many persons do not consider when burning > archival discs. (Konrad Strauss) ----- however, the ability to consistently burn a CD or a DVD is beside the point I was trying to make. I was addressing the problem of consistently READING an archival CD or DVD; "R" or not. I mean, after all, that is why we burn these media. We want to read them, now that we have ensured that they will survive in the medium term. ----- in an archival environment, the "lack of standards" is the lamest and lousiest excuse I have ever come across! Start developing them. How do you think that standards (or recommended practices) for museum lighting, not exceeding a certain light dose ever came about? Work by those who are affected, that's how. ----- do not think that I doubt that a CD reproducer can be built from scratch if needed sufficiently hard. It will be a scientific instrument with an appreciable price tag. Perhaps we should try to have a quote for this kind of equipment handy when we plan our archival future. Kind regards, George