RE: [AV Media Matters] Prove that polishing optical discs works!

[e.ha.zwaneveld@nfb.ca]

Greetings,

Once upon a time, a manufacturer or service provider would consider it
enough to pacify nervous but trusting customers with a confident smile,
saying:"I know that it works, I know that no harm is done'. The humble
customer would be awed by such confidence and assumed competence and
consider any failure of the snakeoil to cure him as his own fault. That
philosophy is currently demonstrated by a manufacturer of car tires that
bust on the freeway and kills or maims the passengers. Nothing is wrong they
say, but 'if users load their car up' or 'drive on tires that are not
perfectly inflated' than they can go bust in 'hot climates'. Right? And by
manufacturers of cigarettes who knew they killed people, and still swore an
oath before Congress that it did not do any harm. Subsequently when the
facts came out, all of a sudden the oaths were forgotten and the huge bills
appear to pay the piper, paid for by the suckers who continue to buy the
poison sticks. Great!

Recently I asked a manufacturer of removable CD labels who confidently
declared that they can be peeled off without damaging the lacquer, to show
that they had tested this claim. He was also confident, and emphasised that
if you put adhesive tape on a painted wall, then it will only peel the paint
off if the adhesion of the tape is stronger than that of the paint to the
wall. He added that they have been making labels for years and are one of
the biggest companies around. So? We often have announcements hung on the
painted walls near our elevators, prompting the paint to tear off when the
poster is taken down. We must have strong tape, right? These manufacturers
all seem to prey on the ignorance and laziness of the people who buy the
stuff, without insisting to know whether it meets the requirements of their
use and who are intimidated by the advertising hype and confidence of the
smiling advocate.

This was my reaction to the manufacturer or service provider of CD polishing
technology who earlier stated:

		"...that is both safe & efficient for cleaning shellac,
vinyl, acetate, lacquer &
		Diamond Discs with the water-based cleaning fluid we
developed some 20 yrs.
	ago & have marketed for the past 7 years."

		"We well know what the audio & video results are
subjective(ly) & know that longterm harm (d) 	is not done by the solution
& it would be useful to all to know if current techniques can
		measure these observations.  Application to high-end audio
equipment & new
		SACD's also demonstrated an improved presentation."

This confident purveyor of a CD polishing solution, asked for a definition
of the most common parameters used to measure damage on CDs, it was
evidently news to him. The outcome was not good. But he meanwhile insists
that 'his' product has never caused a problem, how can he know? My
conclusion is that he had better come up with measurable and repeatable
results, rather than to tell us how long he has been selling this
technology. If we are asked to spend money we need to know whether we are
buying value or snake-oil that makes for shiny CD surfaces, but in 43% of
the cases makes the problem worse, in 33% showed no improvement, and in only
24% (one in four cases) showed an improvement. The figures of how much harm
was done were given by our colleagues at the Canadian Conservation
Institute. It is now up to the proponent of polishing to make his case.

If my public service comments and the findings of my equally neutral
associates at the Canadian Conservation Institute sound unkind, they are not
intended to be, they are kind to CD, DVD and SACD content that may be
otherwise be subjected to such unproven treatment. And their well-being
needs to be spoken for. That is why Mr Seubert asked the question in the
first place, because he cared to know more.  Meanwhile I also know that
manufacturers benefit greatly from critical evaluation of their products
because they are prompted to do a better job or to communicate more
effectively.

Sincerely,

Ed H. Zwaneveld,
Technological Research and Development,
National Film Board of Canada, and
Chair AMIA Preservation Committee
August 10, 2000