"David" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 14:56:00 GMT, D Peter Maus
wrote:


DAT was another. A digital solution for high quality recordists, that
was shot in the face by the record industry. And while they wrangled out
solutions to their concerns, some stunningly boneheaded alternatives
that actually made it onto the ratification table, rose alternative
solutions that made DAT virtually obsolete before the first approved
decks made it to retail.

The trouble with DAT was that it didn't really sound any better than
VHS HiFi which cost a fraction as much. MiniDisc at least offered
some economy and portability.

DAT was far better than the MiniDisk (which is actually the standard storage
in much of the Third World in radio), but it is very unreliable. One
engineer said, "A DAT machine is a midget VHS with an attitude."

The reason DAT had a passing popularity was its portability. For radio ENG,
it was the standard for a while. Darned things kept breaking, though.