OT: Archiving data/video/movies/photos/oral history

From: Bill Dawson <whdawson_at_mlynk.com>
Date: Tue Jun 6 18:10:56 2000

Tony said:

-> For the <nth> time, I don't dispute that you can make mechanisms that
-> will work correctly for many years out of modern plastics. I do doubt
-> that's what happens in consumer devices. Because all the evidence I see
-> (the units that pass over my workbench) says exactly the opposite.


What can be done and what is being done are two different things.

This is the crux of the matter. The plastics used in consumer devices are
junk, and many times the implementation is done with little thought to
durability, only cost.

I happen to have intimate knowledge of what goes on in plastic manufacturing
plants and plastic molding facilities. The _raw_ plastics are excellent.
However,
there are many plastic suppliers who take the raw plastic pellets and blend
in
additives to reduce cost. FWIW, the plastic used in automotive interior
panels here
in the US are almost 50% talc (ground soapstone). Why? Because talc is
cheaper than
plastic. Ever notice the white or lightly tinted stuff that comes off the
interior
plastics after a vehicle is a few years old? That is the talc. Notice how
brittle
the plastic becomes? Again, the talc.

Bill
Received on Tue Jun 06 2000 - 18:10:56 BST