Family Oral History Using Digital Tools

How it began: my 99-year old grandpa.
Why doing oral history makes me glad.
News/blog archive highlights: Interviewing, Audio equipment, Oral History Projects.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

On digital formats: the audio CD player graveyard

Over the weekend, my first audio CD player (born 1985) went to the recyclers/electronic waste disposal people. I used it from 1985 to about 1999, and attempted to give it a second life at the family cabin. The persistent failure of the mechanism that opens and closes the disk tray killed it (despite one successful repair attempt). So it went bye-bye.

Why is this event worthy of note here on this site? My audio CDs are good only if there’s a device that will play them. The end-of-life of an early CD Audio player stands as a signpost: It’s a marker of the time that’s transpired since the format was invented, the popularity of that format, and a warning of the risks we take when we store our stuff on Audio CD disk media. More

Shocking Truth about Thin-skinned CDs (or why you should never write on a CD with a Sharpie)

I’d heard the adage that the top surface of a CD or DVD is thinner and more fragile than… Read More...

June 9 is International Archives Day

Celebrate the Archives in our midst. June 9, 1948 was the founding of the International Council of Archives. The… Read More...

I’m following Digital Death Day today. Remotely

What happens to your bits after you die? That’s the premise behind the Digital Death Day unconference, currently in progress.… Read More...

Not your father’s iPod… well, actually it is (a Walkman)

For Sony Walkman’s 30th anniversary, 13-year old Scott Campbell tries it for a week. Hilarious for us oldsters to see… Read More...

Restored Reel-to-Reel Tape Decks as Art.

A Gallery of Custom Tape Decks, wherein Jeff Jacobs restores old audio technology as art, via BoingBoing Gadgets. I love… Read More...

CDs and DVDs: Tons of good info

The Care and Handling of CDs and DVDs, A guide for librarians and archivists. Found while researching the layer-cake sandwich… Read More...

Motion picture sci/tech report on archiving

[updated] Hollywood Reporter reports that (the Oscar organization)’s Science/Tech council’s released 64-page report on archiving. From the looks of it,… Read More...

Making a recording self-explanatory

I’ve been finalizing an Audio CD of a 1980-era recording that my Mom gave to me. (For her birthday). I’m… Read More...