Re: Is ProDOS supported in OSX?

["Michael Pender" <mpender@hotmail.com>]

Paul Schlyter <pausch@saaf.se> wrote in message
news:bf8g45$2lit$1@merope.saaf.se...
> In article <j0HRa.16476$EZ2.13168@nwrddc01.gnilink.net>,
> Michael Pender <mpender@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > You're missing my point--the value of the data isn't at issue.
>
> If the value of the data is uninteresting, why bother storing the data
> at all?

Provided that the data has some significance, the cost associated with
gathering the data is immaterial to the decision of whether or not to
convert the data format because the cost is already sunk.

The cost analysis is the same whether it cost millions of dollars to gather
the data, or whether its just a list of family recipes.  It affects the
decision of whether to preserve the information, but does not go to whether
the format should be converted.

> > Its that the cost of the *labor* to load all the old data and copy
> > it to new media is going to *far* exceed any savings from reducing
> > the amount of physical space occupied by the 9 track tapes.
>
> So you claim -- did you throw any figures on this backing up your claim?
> These figures should include estimates of the cost of the data transfer,
> and the cost of the additional storage needed to store 9-track magnetic
> tapes vs the equivalent amount of data on CD-ROM's or DVD's.

I agree that the relevant factors are storage cost and data transfer cost,
but I don't recall seeing any hard figures in your analysis either.

> > The mean lifespan of a CDROM or DVD isn't significantly different than
> > that of 9 track tape.
>
> I don't know about that.  Try to leave a CD and a 9-track tape
> outside for several months, no matter what the weather's like
> (strong sunshine, heavy rain, perhaps even snow).  Which one of
> the two do you think will be most easily readable after such a
> treatment?

Well, why not just douse them with alcohol and light them on fire to compare
which one survives longer?  If you're not considering *proper* storage of
the media then the argument is just so much nonsense.

Try leaving a CD on the dashboard of a car in direct sunlight for an hour;
it will be a piece of warped plastic long before a 9-track tape would suffer
significant degradation.