Love-Hounds-request@EDDIE.MIT.EDU (03/18/87)
Really-From: "ROSSI J.A." <rossi@nusc> I find it highly unlikely that there will be a tendency for any Major's to cease pressing vinyl music in favor of the CD. Profit margins will dictate this non-trend. Until the CD player gains the upper hand in music playback machine numbers, I doubt that there will be any change at all in current policies, save the possibility that vinyl will get more expensive (till the ratio is strained, so to speak) with a small ecrease in the expense of CD's as more manufacturing plants are established. It would be an incredibly foolhardy move by any record company, except specialists (e.g., American Gramophone (SP?), who push pricey vinyl to a select audience who by now probably is totally CD compatible anyway), to isolate the millions of potential customers who have non-digital systems. On the other hand, after getting a personal demo from Sony of their 48KHz sampling digital cassette deck (read that again 48KHz, not CD 41KHz) which will have full 12 bit samples, and cost under $1500, I would not rule out a more important NEW standard, based on digital tape (for which production costs should not be much different than analog tape as far as duplication, manufacturing and all the other things that make CD's expensive). Think of it, digital recordings at normal cassette prices, eventually. John ------