[ARSCLIST] Accessibility and Archiving (was Re: [ARSCLIST] Gold CDs)

[Mike Richter <mrichter@xxxxxxx>]

At 07:10 AM 9/25/2004 -0400, Dale Francis wrote:

> p.s.
>
> was it the "ease of access" that created recorded sound?    turn that
> damn jukebox on,  the band is on break.

No, but ease of access created the record industry.

Recorded sound was created in part as a scientific/technical exercise and
in part as a facilitator for business.

As I understand it, Edison's purpose was to avoid the inconvenience of
dictating to a live secretary. His predecessor and concurrent inventors
were concerned with the recording process per se. Music recording was
initial the exemplar - the proof of principle that the darned thing worked.
The existence of a market - and its immense proportions in the 1920s - was
a surprise to those who devised the systems.

It is interesting (at least to me) to observe that success in the record
industry depended on recognizing ease of access as the driving force. For
example, Edison cylinders of 1910 or so were audibly superior not only to
their contemporary discs but also to those produced well into the
electrical era. They maintained their niche market among audiophiles far
longer than other cylinders for that reason, but were never competitive
with flat discs on the general market. To be sure, they were at a
disadvantage in cost as well, but I suggest that user convenience - storage
and playing - was a major factor. (Once past the 'star' performers,
differences in artists were of little import. Most records were bought for
their content, not for the names of the performers.)

The message has persisted and the entertainment industry has continued to
ignore it at its peril. In video, Betamax was technically superior to VHS
but inferior in all aspects of accessibility; while it lasted longer in
some parts of the world than in others, it has vanished even as VHS
thrives. LaserDiscs are not significantly inferior to DVDs in any aspect
but accessibility - and are superior in some respects. I can still
demonstrate (though I cannot easily hear any longer) the sonic advantage of
the best LPs over their CD equivalents. The current battle is over Internet
access - and the industries involved are as persipicacious as ever.


Mike
--
mrichter@xxxxxxx
http://www.mrichter.com/