Newsgroups: comp.periphs
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: UNIX optical drives?
Message-ID: <1988Nov25.182449.9686@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <2384@datapg.MN.ORG> <10469@eddie.MIT.EDU> <12659@steinmetz.ge.com>
Date: Fri, 25 Nov 88 18:24:49 GMT

In article <10469@eddie.MIT.EDU> nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (Doug Alan) writes:
> Perhaps it does make sense to ask the question, however, why buy a
> WORM when cheap read/write optical disks are already here and will
> soon be widely available?

Note that the two phrases "are already here" and "will soon be widely
available" are contradictory from the viewpoint of real users.  The fact
is, cheap read/write optical disks are not yet really here, so they
are not a realistic possibility for someone who wants to buy something
*now*.  Furthermore, for someone who wants to buy proven, shaken-down,
field-tested hardware, they will not be a realistic possibility for at
least another year or two.  "The way you can tell the pioneers is by
the arrows in their backs."  A sensible buyer who wants reliable production
hardware next month will buy a WORM, not read/write.  It simply isn't
true that the stuff will be reliable just because the manufacturer says
so.  Anyone who buys serial number 1 is taking a chance.
-- 
Sendmail is a bug,             |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
not a feature.                 | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu