The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I just tried to logon to Antique Radio forum, and the following message appears-

The web hosting company has decided that the forums use too much of their server resources and shut this entire website down earlier today without warning. I have temporarilly disabled the forums so that the rest of the site might remain accessable. I am working to find a new home as quickly as possible. Apologies for the inconvenience.

I sure hope we haven't lost all their years of valuable information too!

That's a dirty shame. At the risk of sounding like an old fart (I'm all of 56), this illustrates why I think there will always be a need for paper. Our computers crash every 3-5 years (our car's transmission self-destructed because of a "software problem." Will any of today's cars be driveable in 25 years?), electronics in general seem to have less and less longevity (TVs used to last 15-20 years!), the arbitrary actions/whims of bandwidth owners are all that stand between archives and oblivion, and electromagnetic pulses can bring all of it to an abrupt halt. Thank goodness we have shelves of books and other paper documents that with care will last centuries (or can be copied to other paper).

And thank goodness that we have David and John to shield us from the slings and arrows of outrageous cyberspace...!

George P.

This is awful news. There was a vast amount of information and knowledge that had been shared on that site, and I had come to take it for granted. I had learned so very, very much from all of the gents on that board. Vintage radio is a huge field where there is so much arcane knowledge that is in danger of slipping away for good as the old timers head for that big workbench in the great beyond. Hopefully there will be way to retrieve much of the info and the discussions for use on a new site elsewhere.

I have to agree with George Paul here. Even as so many have touted the demise of the print format for our information, we have to accept that all of our digital media have an increasingly short shelf life. I make no apologies for being 50+ years old in my preferences. If I want to look something up, examine a photo or hear a recording, I'll continue to invest in the formats that are the most reliable over the long haul. The computer is a great tool, but if I need to be able to retrieve something with certainty, I'll always print it out.

I agree, that was a site with some very knowledgeable people and a vast amount of resources. Although I am totally at a loss on things electrical such as radios and record players, I got a lot of very helpful information from people there. I sure hope it will be able to relocate and soon.

Larry

Yep, you just can't beat analogue data embedded in "shellac"! Caruso's recording (c. 1906-8) of Verdi's "Celeste Aida" still knocks the socks off anything made since then, and will be around long after all the electronic formats are toast. (The same can be said, mutatis mutandis, for Kodachrome slides vs. digital images---and eternal shame on Kodak for killing the best color transparency film ever conceived by the mind of man. But I digress....)

I remember a few years ago I was taking my daily walk thru the local park near my job and there was one of those writeable CDs laying on the ground. Just being exposed to the elements for a few days and nearly the entire surface of the cd had simply peeled off and it was practically nothing but a clear disc. Not a media I would want to store my life's history on that's for sure! Meanwhile I've got lots of 80-year-old records that, other than the slight wear from being played when they were new, I couldn't tell if they were really that old or were pressed last week. Hmm I wonder how much data could reliably be stored somehow on a 78? : )

frenchmarky wrote:Hmm I wonder how much data could reliably be stored somehow on a 78? : )

Veering off the topic, apparently quite a lot if you look at RCA's SelectaVision (CED) video disc system which was basically analog video on a glorified LP if I'm not mistaken. However, you'd still need electronics to read the disc.

frenchmarky wrote: Hmm I wonder how much data could reliably be stored somehow on a 78? : )

Yes I agree - quite a bit. Here in the UK Baird had an experimental system of recording 30 line TV in the 1930s on a 78 rpm disk. It worked reasonably well and a number of those recordings still exist today. Could the same be said of a DVD produced today still playing in 75 years time?

S-B-H

Well, somewhat good news here. I just went to the old ARF home page, and there is a link to a new (interim) radio discussion board. Because this is just a short-lived thing, the smart advice is to avoid posting anything "for posterity", since this info will all get wiped away again when the board reaches its next destination. But----if you have been going through Antique Radio withdrawal, it's nice to note that "it's back". Same cast of characters, I'm glad to report.....

Can some one post a link to the new interim site please.
Thanks
S-B-H