On Tuesday 20 February 2007 13:39, David Brodbeck wrote: > Stevens wrote: > > Auto manufacturers try to predict how their interiors and their > > paints will last, too, but until both are subjected to the Texas > > sun they are only guessing. The North has salt that kills cars; in > > the South it is the sun. Only when they obtain empirical data can > > they be sure and that data takes a long time to gather. The same > > goes for optical media manufacturers. Any longevity rating is a > > SWAG, at best, which is the reason for my cynical view. > > Sure. As anyone who's ever had a couple of hard disks fail can > attest, MTBF numbers are mostly fiction.
They're statistical measures. Everyone will experience a different actual failure incidence. It's also important to note what counts as a failure for the purpose of the values quoted by manufacturers. If they don't specify what their MTBF numbers quantify, _then_ I'd be suspicious. Randall Schulz -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
