Re: [AV Media Matters] analog cassettes

[m.biel@morehead-st.edu]

rohre@ARLUT.UTEXAS.EDU wrote:
>Since the audio cassette was a Philips of Holland invention, you might
>direct your query to them as to long term prospects for the media support.

It might have been their baby but it has long since left the nest.
They never were a major supplier of the tape itself and are not
now.  Ask the tape suppliers.

>(Since they [Philips] have a vested monetary royalty on each cassette).

Unless there are some countries somewhere where their patents run
for a long time, all of Philips' patents have long since expired, so
they no longer collect royalties on inventions in the public domain.

>I think Sony might not be as committed to the audio cassette as some
>of the other Chinese,  Japanese and Hong Kong companies.  The medium
>is a principle low cost one in the Third world, and likely will be
>around for your lifetimes, in my opinion, unless a radical lowering
>of price of CDs and such happens,

SURPRISE!  It has already happened.  In S.E. Asia the videocassette
has almost disappeared and has been replaced by the VCD.  Movies on
VCD are only a buck or two.  Music CDs are a little more expensive
but are much more often seen in the shops than are cassettes.  The
MD is king in Japan.  This Summer I saw boom-boxes in Singapore and
Malaysia that play CDs, VCDs, and DVDs, and in Japan add a second
drive for MD.

>The Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas each year is a good forum
>to watch for the health of formats, as the consumer business drives
>the other format arenas.

Very good point.  Add to that the magazine __One-To-One__ which is
the trade press journal for the replication industry.  I've been
using it for ten years to find out what is going to happen next in
the retail market.  The companies which actually make the product
are the ones that know what is going to happen next.

>I think reel to reel 1/4 inch formats may be more at risk as to long term
>support of manufacturers.

This is true, and is the subject of a study being undertaken by
Deitrich Schuller of the Vienna Phonogrammarchiv and the IASA
Technical Committee.

>An alternative that will be around many years is likely the VHS, SVHS
media,
>and sound could always be recorded on that although a video format with
>sound tracks.

Here's my prediction: after the Christmas 2001 season you will find
a reduction in stores carrying pre-recorded videocassettes and
VCRs.  We are already seeing video departments putting up larger DVD
departments in the front of the store and moving the VHS cassettes
to the back.  By the Christmas 2002 season you will see the direct
parallel between this and the 1990 war between vinyl and CD.   By
2003 VHS cassettes and recorders will be as easy to find as LPs and
turntables were in 1992.  As broadcasters gear up to the changeover
to digital TV we will find that the set-top box that can convert the
channels and store 6 to 10 hours of time-shift will be common
items--which eliminates the time-shift role of the VCR.  The
inexpensive DVD-R machines will replace the  VCR's other role for
home library recording.

>Certainly, the media cost, and recorder cost rivals audio
>cassettes at this time.

I have LONG been amazed at how cheap videocassettes are compared to
audiocassettes.

>I have recently bought a full featured VCR for $69 US

So did I and these machines STINK.  They are garbage and are
unrepairable.  Avoid them like the plague.  The head drums are
terrible, and the tape guides won't last.

>and VHS tapes of acceptable Japanese manufacture, (known brands), are
>often on sale for $2 a tape in quantities.

You're being overcharged!  TDK and Maxell are usually under $1.50 in
three-packs.  High grades are about $2.

>Plus, you get  up to 6 hours per tape.

No No No No NO.  Don't use slow speed, especially on a $69 machine.
I do all my recording on the 4 hour mid speed or the two hour
speed.  I used the slow speed for years and am very sorry I did--but
it was because the many of the machines I had didn't record
mid-speed.  3-speed machines are now easier to find.  Find them and
use that mid speed.

>Perfect for voice work, the higher end VCRs have higher fidelity
>audio options as well..   Stuart Rohre     ARL Univ. of Tx.

The linear edge track is useless.  Never depend on it.  It is very
dependent on tape guides.  And as for the hi-fi track, that is
dependent on the quality and alignment of the head drum.  Brand to
brand differences will affect the ability to play both the video and
the hi-fi audio at the same time even on new machines.  There can
often be differences between ability to interchange tapes between
two- and four-head machines.

>Moderators Comment:
>This subject came up on a oral history list serve a couple of weeks
>ago. I am in total agreement with Stuart. There is a huge installed
>base of cassette media based equipment. It is a very popular current
>format with millions of machines.

But soon--VERY soon--there will be fewer and fewer of these made.
Then you will have to rely on the old machines.  New cars usually
have CD decks--the cassette for music will soon be as extinct as the
8-track.

>I do not see it going away totally for many many years - having said
>that I do not recommend it for archival applications - but from an
>availability point of view,I do not see it going away for a long
>time.     jim

Right.  The audiocassette should only be used for acquisition
purposes.

Mike Biel  m.biel@morehead-st.edu