Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!uunet!ingr!b11!mcconnel From: mcconnel@b11.ingr.com (Guy McConnell) Newsgroups: comp.periphs.scsi Subject: Re: DAT versus 8mm Tape Message-ID: <9347@b11.ingr.com> Date: 8 Nov 90 19:06:18 GMT References: <129505@jake.encore.com> Organization: Intergraph Corp. Huntsville, AL Lines: 45 In article <129505@jake.encore.com>, wcarroll@encore.com (Mr. New Dad) writes: > From article , by kusumoto@chsun1.uchicago.edu (Bob Kusumoto): > > 8mm: > > Cheap tapes (commerical Sony 8mm tapes can run between $5 and $10, exabyte > > certified tapes run between $10 and $15). > > Note: Exabyte tapes ARE Sony tapes. Exabyte buys them from Sony and > repackages them. I don't recall whether the Exabyte tapes are screened > in any way to improve data reliability. Um, Sony makes AND packages the tapes for Exabyte. The Exatapes carry the "D8" trademark to indicate that they are certified for data storage, just as Sony DAT tapes carry their "DDS" trademark for the same reason. > > Lots of companies > > sell DAT drives because the technology is connected to commerical audio > > markets (cost of R&D is lower on DAT than 8mm). > > I don't buy this. I'd wager that a whole lot more 8mm video units have > been sold than audio DAT drives. The interface to the DAT unit may be > easier than with 8mm, but the economies of scale for the drive/head > assembly favor 8mm, not DAT. The development cost difference is due to the fact that Exabyte owns so many patents on the 8mm data storage format and silicon. They also have an exclusive marketing arrangement with Sony in which they (and their Pacific Rim partner, Kubota) are the only ones who can purchase the modified Sony decks. It would cost a bundle to develop an 8mm drive because a company would either have to buy the technology from Exabyte or spend big time and money developing a system from the ground up (as Exabyte did). DAT is a consumer technology and the majority of its components can be bought off the shelf, sans interface and code. Exabyte holds a license to the DDS format and were originally developing a 4mm drive. They went to 8mm because they felt that they could ultimately do more with it. -- ============================================================================ Guy D. McConnell | | "I'd like to be Intergraph Corp. Huntsville, AL. | Opinions expressed | under the sea Mass Storage Peripheral Evaluation | are mine and do not | In an octopus' Tape Products | necessarily reflect | garden in the uunet!ingr!b11!mspe5!guy | Intergraph's. | shade..." (205)730-6289 FAX (205)730-6011 | | --The Beatles-- ============================================================================