Goofy question about "industrial" archiving

[Allison]

>
>Subject: Goofy question about "industrial" archiving
>   From: "Billy Pettit" <Billy.Pettit at wdc.com>
>   Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 17:37:19 -0700
>     To: <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
>
>
>Chris M wrote:
> Just curious how, or even if, old design drawings and
>such were preserved in the old days. I could barely
>venture a guess as to when the first optical recording
>drives became "useful", all I remember is a friend
>obtaining one of the first (locally) cd players for
>his auto in ~the summer of '87. I was in contact with
>a few of the people who were involved w/the Mindset
>computer, and had hoped I would obtain info on the
>custom vlsi chips it used, in any form of course. This
>just lead me to ponder when this stuff started
>*appearing* on cd's and such. 
> Can anyone name the different optical CD formats that
>modern readers can't work with? I know there must be a few...
>
>-------------
>
>Billy answers:
>
>There are two parts to your question.  The first is how old design drawings
>were preserved.  In all the companies I have worked for in the last 45
>years, the drawings were destroyed.  Some individual copies survived.  And
>patent applications remain.  But all design drawings were destroyed as a
>matter of policy.  That way there was no way support obligation coming up
>long after it was cost effective.  And it makes patent challenges difficult,
>especially prior art arguments.
>
>Even today, most of the design archives where I work have a very limited
>life time.


Industrial archives are varied depending on product and lifetime of the 
product. Most places I've been 7 years seems to be the upper limit.  There
are exceptions, Military and aerospace in particular.  Those guys have to
by contract maintain complete archive and production sets for the operating
life of the program.  For example the Shuttle program is 30 years old and 
still going and the contractors are required to keep everything until 10
years after the last flight.  Thats a lot of paper, blue line, Vellum, 
Mylar, tapes, floppies and even CDs. If the program requires ongoing 
material sourcing as in spares or parts to make a new airframe those 
drawings must be useable as well as production methods may be described in
those documents.

I will not address the second question on CDs.


Allison