Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!uwvax!astroatc!nicmad!madnix!jason
From: jason@madnix.UUCP (Jason Blochowiak)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: IS FPE/(A)I VCR BU
Summary: Ok, so what's wrong with AI?
Keywords: backup, VCR, hard drives, syquest, removeable drives
Message-ID: <1107@madnix.UUCP>
Date: 12 Feb 90 09:50:23 GMT
References: <900201080038.260590@DOCKMASTER.ARPA> <1580@umigw.MIAMI.EDU>
Reply-To: jason@madnix.UUCP (Jason Blochowiak)
Organization: ARP Software, Madison, WI
Lines: 36

bsherman@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (Bob Sherman) writes:
>TMPLee@DOCKMASTER.NCSC.MIL writes:
>> [He asked about AI's VCR tape backup card]
>I think you might do well to put on hold any plans you might have to 
>obtain the AI tape backup card... I don't think it will be on the 
>market for the near future because of some problems the company has 
>undergone..

	Ok, I bite: What problems are they having? You kind of make it
sound like the company itself is having problems, but... So, is it a
technical thing (they can't figure out why X is doing Y), or is it a
financial thing (they can't finance such and such), or what?

	I was considering getting one of their units, but other considerations
have almost certainly removed the possibility - I'm planning on getting a
couple of the Syquest 40 (some odd) Mb removeable drives to go along with the
new machine that I'm getting, and I know that they work with the //gs (a
friend has one). However, it may be more economical (if not nearly as fast)
to get the //gs to do backups to my VCR for both machines (assuming it does
the backup at a block, not file, level), as opposed to spending ~$90 for each
backup cartridge. VHS tapes don't usually run $90 each...

	Assuming the folks at AI do a reasonable job with the card (they said
that it would be a card when I talked to them), has anyone had any real live
experience with VCR backups on other machines? Or have there been VCR
backups for the // before? It would seem that it's just a variation of the
standard tape backup, with a little bit of wierdness thrown in because the
VCR's of the world weren't designed to store (computer) data.

>    bsherman@mthvax.cs.miami.edu | bsherman@pro-exchange | MCI MAIL: BSHERMAN 


-- 
                      Jason Blochowiak - jason@madnix.UUCP
or, try:         astroatc!nicmad!madnix!jason@spool.cs.wisc.edu
       "Education, like neurosis, begins at home." - Milton R. Saperstein