Message-ID: <407@dual.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 3-Apr-84 10:20:52 EST
Article-I.D.: dual.407
Posted: Tue Apr  3 10:20:52 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 4-Apr-84 07:56:37 EST
References: <363@bunker.UUCP>
Organization: Dual Systems, Berkeley, CA
Lines: 27

I suppose budgetary considerations are the main ones in selecting a diskette.
From my point of view as a systems manufacturer which ships a relatively
small amount of software on diskette (~500 diskettes per month), a high-
quality diskette pays for itself very quickly. Our software is shipped
already installed on the Winchester; the diskettes are there as a backup
in case this fails. We have tried many brands of diskettes, and Dysan
has been the ONLY one with acceptable results, all guarantees of error-
free media notwithstanding. It costs us a LOT more (having to Fed. Ex.
out a replacement, lost customer confidence, bad PR, etc) to replace
bad diskettes than to get them right the first time. These expensive
diskettes are NOT providing us with a false sense of security. In a
manufacturing situation, we can't afford to make multiple copies of things,
spend a lot of time veryfying contents, etc. This costs us a lot as
well (how much is your time worth?). I once chatted with a guy from a 
CP/M based systems house; he said that they get really expensive diskettes 
in quantity, expect about 35% of them to be totally unsuable, and still come 
out ahead. When we tried other brands, we had fail rates on the order of
10-20% bad copies (frequently this was bad formatting, and could be
repaired by reformatting). On the other hand, for personal use, I would
not spend 80-100 dollars for a box of diskettes that can be obtained
for much less. When talking about personal use, I can afford to spend
the time to verify the copies, make multiple backups, etc. So it really
depends on who you are......

	    Mats Wichmann
	    Dual Systems Corp.
	    ...{ucbvax,amd70,ihnp4,cbosgd,decwrl,fortune}!dual!mats