World's Crappiest Drives (was Re: A&J Microdrive)

From: Eric Smith <eric_at_brouhaha.com>
Date: Wed Dec 6 14:46:54 2000

"Iggy Drougge" <optimus_at_canit.se> wrote:
> Actually, I think CD-ROM deserves a nomination. It's an optical floppy
> /without/ any protection from outside forces whatsoever. It's actually
> quite horrible.

I find it amazing that someone would have a problem with CD-ROM.

It's incredibly cheap (since it's a spin-off of a consumer audio format).

> /without/ any protection from outside forces whatsoever.

I have no clue what you mean by that, but they built in an absolutely
*huge* amount of error correction. CDs withstand more abuse than
any other data storage medium with which I'm familiar.

> It's also a read-only memory.

You say that as if it was a bad thing.

> but to write anything to a CD, you have to
> go through an intricate mastering process.

Since it was never designed to be writable, you're lucky to be able to
write it at all. You've got to expect some hassle. You might just as
well complain that it's harder to write EPROMs than to read them.

> At least cassettes usually had a simple user interface.

You've lost me there. With cassettes you have to worry about which
side and position to use. They're not generally random access devices.
Received on Wed Dec 06 2000 - 14:46:54 GMT