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From: bzs@WORLD.STD.COM (Barry Shein)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: The Future of DAT?
Message-ID: <9106222115.AA10855@world.std.com>
Date: 22 Jun 91 21:15:30 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 35


This past week's Economist magazine had an interesting article
regarding a new MD audio format soon to be released. It uses a 2 1/2"
disk, is rewriteable (MO) and holds 74 minutes of music. The MD is
"immune" to the tracking problems portable CD's have (if jostled CD's
often go silent as they find their place again.) They keep a buffer in
RAM which holds enough sound to keep playing while repositioning the
head.

Equally interesting were the comments in the article about the current
state of DAT. Out of 190 million audio players (of all types) sold
worldwide last year, only 150,000 of them were DATs. There are about
30 albums available on DAT media. Basically, the Economist concluded,
DAT is dead.

This would seem to reflect strongly on the DAT data backup industry,
is DAT about to go the way of the eight track tape? I still see DAT
vigorously promoted as an archive medium, but there might be cause for
concern if the article is even reasonably accurate.

Is 8mm tape going to capture a virtual monopoly on large backup media?
Is optical tape ever going to show up on the market, and will the
drives be affordable?

----------

P.S. Toshiba has announced that they will begin volume shipments of
16Mb DRAMs in the fall. NEC and others plan to join them about the
first of the year.


        -Barry Shein

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