[78-L] CD-DVD Lingevity: WAS CD recycling

[JD]

>> Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2013 05:13:15 -0700 (PDT)
>> From: Mike Harkin <xxm.harkin at yahoo.com>
>> Subject: Re: [78-L] ^CD recycling
>> To: 78-L Mail List <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
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>>         <1376568795.40994.YahooMailNeo at web142604.mail.bf1.yahoo.com>
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>>
>> I've had a few over the years which played fine initially, but with time
>> developed glitches
>> and would no longer play properly.? A kind of unplanned obsolescence, I
>> ssuppose.
>>
>> Mike in Plovdiv
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  Very likely the result of initially defective media  or perhaps deterioration caused by adding labels or writing on them with permanent  markers.

  I have roughly about 1500 home burnt CDRs in my collection, all proberly stored and well cared for. The only ones to ever became unplayable were a cheapo brand that I purchased from a mercifully name-forgotten vendor. I usually bought only the better known brands, Memorex, TDK, Fuji, Kodak, Imation, etc. & NEVER had a problem. Then, some years back I found this fershluggener vendor offering 100 bulk packs for fifteen bucks, at least ten bucks better than the competition. No problem (at first) with the first three orders. Then the last bunch developed an at least 80 percent failure rate during burning. After my previous purchases the vendor bastards wouldn't  make good because I discovered the problem a while beyond the return period. Recently I discovered, quite to my dismay that almost all of these (Peri) CDRs had become unplayable. Worse, I no longer had the LPs they were made from as I gave away a lot of LPs when I relocated five years ago. 
  Moral: When you dupe to another media, keep the original.

  I had a similar problem with a great many CDs (which might may actually be after-labeled CDRs; I haven't been able to determine which) that I bought from a now well-known company that specializes in radio programs from yesteryear. Their heart is in the right place but they too have or had major problems. I had purchased about 20-30 CDs which played fine at first only to have them develop the same ailments as the ones mentioned above. Maybe they were using the same crap media.  All of these developed severe noise and skips which rendered them useless. The company offered me a chintzy credit of thirty bucks which I thought was pretty lousy. Plus they were unable to replace the programs as they claimed to no longer have them. Pretty bad for an outfit that wants to be the best in their field. 

  I also have a fairly large commercially produced DVD collection and a much larger DVDr home brew collection and I've had only one go bad, a movie (apparently a commercially produced DVD and seemingly legit) which  I bought from a super market rack for a buck. Serves me right. 

  So, I've come to believe that when CDs or DVDs go bad it's usually due to defective media or lack of proper care. CDs and DVDs should last way past our lifetimes if properly cared for. If you want to keep your media alive, consider the following:

  Treat them as you would your kids or pets (assuming you don't hate kids or pets a la W.C Fields) 

  Use labels at your own risk: Perhaps by now they're perfectly safe but how are we to know who - how or where produced and what type of adhesive is involved. It's a crap-shoot....

  Use ONLY water-based FELT TIP markers such as VIS-A-VIS wet erase) available from Staples type vendors.) It's often tempting to use permanent markers because water-based pens often don't "take" well on CDR surfaces. In days past many but not all  CDR surfaces were a breeze to write on with water pens.  "Experts" have been cautioning for years not to use permanent markers or hard-tipped pens. 

  My solution to the labelling problem has been  to print my own jewel box or whatever inserts (they're fairly easy to make in any size necessary in Filemaker Pro and probably many other programs) and to assign a  number to the media (only a few digits to write on the CD/DVD surface) and to data-base it all. 
  Happy trails,
  JD