Media Preserve - Pittsburgh

After our visit to Atlanta where we checked out the Samma, the robotic system, we decided to also check out a manual system, the 'old fashioned' method.

I was able to contact Media Preserve, a company that deals with video conversions, audio and the preservation of books. I traveled to Pittsburgh, PA to check out their studio, taking with me those five tapes of different formats that we checked out in Atlanta. The main purpose of the visit was to be present whilst the transfer of the five tapes was taking place in order to understand the technical nuances of the process, to begin understanding the differences between this process and that of the automated one.

At the Pittsburgh airport a ride was waiting to take me to the city where the company was located, approximately an hour away from the airport. There I met Bob who gave me a tour of the premises after which he took me to the studio where the conversions were to take place.

 Th"...one of them was known as the 'doctor'..."ere I met the two men who worked there; one of them was known as 'the doctor'. It occurred to me that each studio in this field that we had checked out, had its own 'doctor'! Generally speaking, he was a person with loads of experience (an understatement!) dressed in a white coat who would travel between the leading companies in this field. He would be well acquainted with all the old and rare formats, and would have his own theories regarding common technical questions that would arise. What was a little worrying was the fact that so much depended on this one man.

In any event, the differences between the systems were, from the onset, crystal clear. Understandably, each tape received its undivided attention -- in my opinion, the greatest advantage of the manual system. Very quickly I understood the difference between an automated system, which would hold steady to a particular quality level -- and a manual system, which could actually improve the quality. On the other hand, it could be very dependent on the person doing the conversion. This can also affect the process and produce a result that is below standard. So the big question that occurred to me here was the uniform quality of the material when using this method.

My day ended being stuck in Pittsburgh Airport as a result of a heavy snow storm that began that afternoon. And so after a delay of six hours I returned to New York, hard drive in hand containing all the new files.