Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!uunet!wshb!michaelb
From: michaelb@wshb.csms.com ( WSHB Operations Eng)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Universal machine-readable format?
Message-ID: <803@wshb.csms.com>
Date: 23 Aug 90 12:32:26 GMT
References: <1990Aug15.165518.16675@phri.nyu.edu> <3025@aix.aix.kingston.ibm.com> <1990Aug17.045225.15087@looking.on.ca>
Organization: WSHB, Christian Science Mon. Synd., Cypress Creek, SC
Lines: 32

In article <1990Aug17.045225.15087@looking.on.ca>, brad@looking.on.ca (Brad Templeton) writes:

> The suggestion of 9-track tape is ludicrous.  Today, the vast majority of
                                    ^^^^^^^^^
> computer users would not know what to do with it.  Only people at big
> shops that have mainframes and minis (and that is now a *very* small
> proportion of the computer user community) could read it, and many of them
> might have no easy way to move the file to the destination machine.

Here, here. If you have data that fits on a 360K floppy the expense of sending
a 9 track is unjustifiable. The last place I worked we had about six 9 track
machines and the only time one got used was to cold boot a dead machine
or to dump a hard disk. (I think they have gone to 8mm since I left.)
If you had sent us something on a floppy we could have had it on the target
machine in less than 1/2 hour.

When I got here I set the whole place up on 386 PCs running XENIX. If you sent
a 9 track tape to me here I would try to sell it and ask you to resend the
data on a floppy.

Even guys with minis may not be able to handle it. I am trying to establish
a uucp connection with a guy who has a VMS system. When I got my corporate
office to send me DECUS UUCP on a tape they sent a 1650 bpi 9 track.
I delivered it and got a blank stare. 9 track is NOT the universal standard
it once was.

Michael
-- 
Michael Batchelor--Systems/Operations Engineer #compliments and complaints
WSHB - An International Broadcast Station of   #   letterbox@csms.com
 The Christian Science Monitor Syndicate, Inc. #technical questions and reports
michaelb@wshb.csms.com         +1 803 625 4880 #   letterbox-tech@csms.com