Hi Don. “I’m sorry that I’m a little late as I got tied up in traffic.”

OK, so where did we leave off last time we spoke.

“I think it was when I told you that I won’t sell my tapes.”

Close but no cigar. You said that you can’t sell your tapes because a salesperson from a media manufacturer told you that it was too dangerous.

I don’t know what they mean about being “too dangerous” but perhaps we can work out the reason. Are you ready.

“Yes, I am”

Great let’s establish some thing right from the start. We will be talking about certification vs. recertification and your tapes. The minute you mount your “new” tape and the first byte is encoded; your new tape can be now be labeled “used”.

“Wait just a minute.” “You are trying to work me into a corner!”

I’m just stating a fact so there is no question about what is or isn’t a used tapes. You mentioned that you can’t sell your tapes because it is “dangerous”. Did the salesperson actually use the word “dangerous”?

“Well, not exactly.”

Not exactly is a little vague. How was it said.

“They started by talking about the people who might want to buy my “used” tapes and that they don’t certify the tapes they buy.” “They also intimated that they would sometimes only clean them up and sell them–sometimes as new.”

Is that all?

“No, I was also told that I may be giving away sensitive company information that could be retrieved and used such as social security numbers, account names, home addresses, etc.”.

All of what you have said, I’ve heard many times before. This is a fear tactic, which, unfortunately, works. Say something long enough and it becomes believable.

Before we go on, let’s talk about what you said. I told you that new tapes from the manufacturers are batch certified (statically sampled) and that the vast majority of tapes have been labeled certified, determined by years and years of experience. Ask any manufacturer if this is correct.

If you go to their web sites, which I recommend, I doubt that you will see, in writing, anything saying that each and every tape is tested on a certifier. Regardless of their experience, you don’t know, by definition, if there is, or is not, anything on the tapes. I know of recycling companies that actually test every single “used” tape that they buy and/or sell.

As far as company information being given away, the people who are actually looking for information that can be used for a profit (hackers) would consider it beneath their talents to buy used tapes on the open market for nefarious purposes. They are so sophisticated that they simply worm their way into your computer and manipulate whatever information they want.

Besides, your used tapes would be bought for resale; not for laboratory testing. Assume for a second, that your tapes were sold to, for example, a bank like Bank of America. If there were stray bits of information on the tapes, they would not have the computer power to extract it. A computer room is not a laboratory! This may be a hypothetical situation but also a true one.

Regardless, anything being on the tape is immaterial as the end user would over-write anything that might (or might not) be on the tape. Banks, Insurance or any other company are buying for reasons other than looking for stray information that they would be of absolutely no value to them. Again, this is hypothetical.

Oh, by-the-way, the people I know in the business would not sell untested used tape or recertified tape as new. This is “old hat”.

This was a good session and I hope you learned something,

“I’m late for an appointment right now but I’d like to explore this a little bit more.” “Next time, I’ll do a little home work.” “I must say, however, your logic seems to hold water.”

“How about the same time next week?”

Let’s make it earlier, if possible.

Okay with me.

Don Blackburn, Sales Director
Bow Industries, Inc.
(508) 877-2887

PS Anyone is welcome to join in the conversation.

This will be about “certification” of magnetic tape and a little bit about “recertification”.  The following is a quote from a well known manufacturer of tape.

“Recertified?”  “It can’t be – the equipment to certify tape performance is available only to licensed manufacturers.  No one else has it – so used tape can’t be ‘recertified’.”

I could question a couple of things in this quote, but for purposes of this article just keep “can’t be certified” in mind.  Incidentally, in the one page of this quote, they mention used tape, recycled, reconditioned, blank and recertified.

“Hey.”

Yes, oh anxious one, what is it?

“Before you start, one hundred percent of the tapes I buy are one hundred percent certified!”

Correct, oh knowledgeable one–and?

“So what are you trying to tell me?”

Relax for a second and I’ll tell you.

It would be naive to think that one hundred percent of the hundreds of thousands of tapes manufactured each year are individually certified on certification equipment.  This would be far too time consuming and the cost would be prohibitive.  So what do they do?

Magnetic tapes are “batch: certified.  This means that “X” number of tapes from a batch are tested on a certifier.  In other words, they are statistically sampled.  Based on the results of this sampling and years and years of experience, the whole batch is labeled certified as meeting or exceeding a predetermined set of standards. Regardless, the vast majority of tapes manufactured never see a certifier; yet, they are considered certified.

“Hey!”

Oh, it’s you again.  What do you want this time?

“You are talking in circles.”  “First you acknowledge that my tapes are one hundred percent certified, then you say that the vast majority of my tapes never see a certifier but they are certified.”  “I’m a trifle confused.”

I guess you could say that.  What I’m trying to tell you is that the word “certified” itself is confusing, For example, in the quote I cited at the beginning said, “…used” tapes can’t be recertified”.

“So?”

So how many times have you been told not to buy or sell your “used” tapes because they can not be certified? Doesn’t it stand to reason that a used tape can be labeled recertified if, in fact, it has been tested to meet or exceed new tape standards?  In fact, a used tape could be labeled certified if it passed a battery of tests.  That would be in line with accepted practices.

Bear in mind that these used tapes or whatever name you want to call them, were advertised, when new, as having been tested for 1,200,000 passes and/or 15,275 loads and unloads.     I have seen claims that “new” tapes should be retired after 260 uses and/or treated as supplies and budgeted for replacement each year.  That’s a very, very far cry from 1,200,000 full passes or 15,275 loads and unloads.  Tape manufacturers can not even bring themselves to admit that merely cleaning tapes would extend the useful life of both tape and magnetic heads.

“Hold on!”

OK, what is it this time?

“Since I don’t currently sell my tapes, just how did my new tapes get involved with used tapes?”

Simple, I was talking about the use of certified versus recertified and you started asking questions.  Do you want to talk about your “new” tapes?

“OK, what about them?”

When they get to be old tapes, will you sell them?  I can give you the names of people who will buy them.

“Oh, no, I can’t sell them.”

Why not?

“I was told it is too dangerous.”

Who told you that?

“The manufacturer’s salesperson.”

Look, can we hold on to this thought for a while?  It’s just too much to cover in one session.  When will be a good time to go into this?

“How about next week?”

Try to remember that we will be discussing that it is dangerous for you to sell your new tapes, when they get old. See you in a week or two.

Don Blackburn, Sales Director
Bow Industries, Inc.
(508) 877-2887

PS  If you wants to join in on this conversation, let me know and I’ll welcome you.