Allen, I have never used CD-R or CD-RW, but have read about them. (That sounds almost as bad as "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV.")
The Techno-god caught me in a statement that is no longer correct, namely that you have to toss the whole CD-R when you make a mistake. That was how the 1st gen worked, but they improved it since, by supporting the changing of the end-of-volume marker into an end-of-file marker, as Andy alluded to. What I should have said is that you have to throw out the whole CD-R after a mistake if you want a perfect CD-R with no waste - something that is only important if you need all of the CD-R's capacity. Obviously, if the amount of data is much less than the amount of free space, a few mistakes won't hurt.
As you said, so I have read:
<You absolutely cannot read and write to CD-R disks as if they are floppies.>
I believe that unless a medium supports simple read/write and rewrite like a mag disk, it will always be limited to a niche market. That's it in a nutshell.
It continues to amuse me that the "CD-R(W)/DVD will crush Zip" crowd makes the same mistake as the Fry's guy I mentioned in an earlier post, in thinking the Zip's primary purpose is as a bulk backup medium. The RoRo's truck out bogus arguments one at a time, which we then refute. After they run out, they wait a while, then start all over, like they have forgotten all the refutations. I am constantly torn between the case for ignoring them versus gamely playing along and endlessly refuting them.
My summary of the case for ignoring them (mute-mode):
1) Correcting the incorrigible is a waste of time
2) It clutters the thread, crowding out meaningful discussion and making us all look like a bunch of squabblers
3) It gives them the attention they so desperately need, and so rewards them for their bad behavior
And the case for refuting them:
1) Protecting our investment and newcomer's - by reassuring the newcomers so they don't panic and sell based on BS
2) Protecting the thread - if BS is allowed to prevail, no one will come here for info
3) They aggravate us, and we need to return the favor occasionally, especially when the stock is down
Lately, I am in refute-mode, as you can tell. I apologize to those who are in mute-mode. All I can say to them is, I'll be a mute again some day, so show at least as much patience for me as you do for the RoRo's. |
