[ale] [OT] Video Camera Rant/Modern Media Formats Rant

[Thompson Freeman]

Admittedly, the only tenuous connection to Linux here is  
that if I ever get video editing done, it will be done  
under Linux. The underlying challenge is still too common  
with the various computer media.

<rant tale of woe>

My video cam decided not to work a few months back when  
apparently the critical failure circuit detected I was  
attempting to shoot my daughter-in-law's baby shower. I  
finally got it in to the shop for diagnosis, and the bill  
to repair is greater than I spent on the camera six/seven  
years ago! _NOT_ worth the money to repair, but in the mean  
time everybody has stopped making digital format Hi-8 media  
cameras! Now I've got a bunch of video footage which has  
become inaccessable, at least to me.

I can get the footage saved/converted at Wolf Camera for a  
mere $30/2hr of tape. With possibly 35 hours of tape, that  
adds up to a fair piece of change, especially since I don't  
know what is on some of the tape (bad habits on my part).  
Why, oh Why are we changing to incompatible formats every  
few years for just about every electronic device around? I  
mean, it is the 8", 5.25" hard sectored, 5.25" soft  
sectored, 5.25" HD, 3", 3"HD floppy dance all over again.  
I've had 3 digital still cameras now, and not one of them  
has reused either batteries or storage media, or been  
really worth repairing when something goes wrong with a  
$200 intial investment.
</rant>

FWIW, and because there are a number of people with varied  
interests around here, anybody around here have access to  
appropriate equipment that I might get these tapes  
converted? Its a long shot, but I might at well ask. I'm in  
Charlotte, but I've got kin in the Atlanta region, so I  
probably can meet up with somebody.

Thanks for the bandwidth to get that frustration off my  
chest. Appologies for being quite so far off topic.