------exploding CDs
 
>> I never thought about that aspect of it, these things were
>> sold with the impression that they didn't wear out like
>> vinyl did. Hmm. I wonder how much of what I have 
 
PM> My thought exactly. You mean after all that trouble
PM> assembling what I've been thinking of as my final and
PM> permanent jazz collection, it's gonna spring a spider's
PM> web of cracks and then crumble to dust? Sheesh.
 
> I had mentioned this aging process quite some time
> ago for ALL plastics and everyone (then) insisted
> I was wrong.
 
> One of my former employers specialization was
> plastics engineering. He told me that all plastic
> continually shrinks although at a much decelerated
> rate after the first few weeks and will return to
> various carbon compounds and crumble. As I
> remember it he mentioned 10-15 years. I have
> managed to keep various plastic objects for that
> long and they do crumble if you try to disassemble
> them.
 
> I don't think sunlight is a factor but heat
> definitely is a catalyst.
 
 === Oh, no doubts here in Montreal about the
 weather's effects on the disintegration of
 plastics in general... the grandkids forget a toy
 on the lawn and if it's out there for a few weeks
 it's a sure gonner... dried out and brittle.
 And whatever else sunlight does, it sure does a
 good job of bleaching the color out of the
 brightest stuff... turning for example a bright
 green Super Soaker to a sickly looking lime color
 in no time at all. And anything left out over the
 winter is really pitiful looking.
 
 === But, as Roy pointed out by comparing CDs to
 vinyl records, I also got the idea that CDs were
 -the- stable repository for music -- at least more
 stable than anything else. There's the digital
 aspect of course, but in fact vinyl records aren't
 too shoddy since I know people who have been very
 careful with their record collections re: needle
 wear, and the sound quality has held up pretty
 well for... many decades at least.
 
 Oh well... ashes to ashes, dust to dust...
 
 

--- Maximus/2 3.01