M
mstcraig
New member
Hi out there. I have given much thought to recording lately, specifically archiving. I wonder how all those that have gone over to the digital 'dark side' (most people) will be able to play their recordings in the coming years? Lets look at this tale. First, Sony made the PCM-F1 so you could use your Beta VCR and record digitally. Know anybody that still has a Beta VCR to, play these back? Then Sony, Mitsubishi, 3M and Denon made Open Reel digital machines. How many of these beasts are still around? And the condition of those said tapes is... Then came ADAT, DAT, etc. Can YOU find any of these that still work, and reliably to play your recordings? What will happen in 5, 10, 20 years when you want to listen to all the stuff you did in Pro Tools? Will Pro Tools still exist, and will the new systems be backward compatible with it to allow this? My point is very simple. Analog recording has existed for 60+ years now. 50 years from now, I WILL be able to play my 2-track tapes back. PERIOD!!! I use a ReVox B-77 every week to record big band jazz here in New York. I have many many tapes. Aside from possbly having to bake them, I will never have a problem playing these. THIS CANNOT BE SAID OF ANY OTHER RECORDING MEDIUM, ESPECIALLY IF IT IS DIGITALLY BASED!! To use another analogy, know anyone still using DOS or Windows 3.1? People have lots of old software that's perfectly usable. The problem? The hardware grew at one rate while the software did not. Speaking for myself, I am, and always will be, in the Analog domain. I've made my choice based on wisdom for the future. And I feel very comfortable with it. Comments? 