NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/rec/music/cd/8547

Internet Message Format | 1992-12-22 | 1.6 KB

Xref: sparky rec.music.cd:8547 rec.audio:17118
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From: [e-mail] (Captain Chaos)
Subject: Re: MiniDiscs -- What Are They?
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Organization: MIT Lincoln Laboratory
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Date: Fri, 18 Dec 92 21:00:14 GMT
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Perhaps the discrepancy in the projected cost of a blank MD and the current
cost of blank magneto-optical (MO) computer disks is due in part to economies
of scale.  Once they get in to mass-marketing to audio users, maybe they can
get the price down.

I'd like to note that the $225 cost of our MO disks goes to Alphatronix,
the drive manufacturer, who buys 3M, Verbatim, Encore or whatever disks
and verifies/formats/tests/guarantees them.  So materials cost probably isn't
the whole pricetag.

Using MD for computer storage is an appealling idea.  Consumer electronics
formats have certainly crossed over before (DAT, VHS).  I'd argue, however,
that the audio user would actually use more blank disks than the computer
user.  Think about it:  I can fill up 74 minutes of sound easy, but it takes
me a lot longer to fill up 150 MB!  I toss out 150 MB as a guess at MD
capacity (CD-ROM=600+ MB, MD has ~1/4 the data a CD has).

MD vs. DCC price update (Tower has changed them already!):

    prerecorded DCC        $14
    prerecorded MD        $14
    blank DCC (Maxell?)    $11

Andrew
[e-mail]