On 2014-12-03, Char Jackson wrote:
On Tue, 2 Dec 2014 18:54:41 -0500, flatfish+++
wrote:

On Tue, 02 Dec 2014 17:38:54 -0600, Char Jackson wrote:

On Tue, 2 Dec 2014 15:19:56 -0500, flatfish+++
wrote:

Bit-Rot is a big thing with CD these days. People go back to that CD
they bought in the 1980s and find it doesn't work anymore.
Even worse for DVD.

If bit rot is possible with pressed CD/DVDs, it's news to me. Plenty of
other things can go wrong, especially if proper handling and storage aren't
observed, but I believe bit rot is reserved for the writeable variety of
optical discs.

At least with vinyl or tape you can work around it.
With a CD if it can't read the TOC, you are pretty much dead.

Don't let the kids handle it and don't store it in direct sunlight or in the
car where temps hit 140+ and you should be fine. In the life of a pressed CD
or DVD, the 1980's weren't that long ago.

Might be a bad use of terminology on my part but basically what I am
saying is CD in apparently good, non scratched condition, fails to
play.
You are DOA.
Nothing you can do.

Has that actually ever happened, or is it something you read about? I'd be
surprised to learn that it's a real concern. Again, I think we're talking
about pressed CDs and DVDs, not the stuff that someone recorded at home.

It has to me. Lost 2 original CDs when left in the car cd player;
unplayable. The "experts" on usenet claimed that was impossible as
a cd was impervious to heat; never explained why the CDs became
unplayable.

That's when I decided that one should just dup the original cd to be
used in the car's cd player.


At least with vinyl or tape you can recover.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Both of those media types have their own
issues.


Had 10 year old music reel tapes that was unusable. Don't think that
the home users "carefully store" their tapes or vinyls, especially the
recycled vinyls use in the '70s due to the oil "crisis" created by opec
to raise the "petro dollars".