On Thu, 11 Feb 1993 09:29:31 EST Matthew Simpson <054340@UOTTAWA> said:
 
>However, please realize that there are  some people faced with a lack of
>knowledge about systems  that requires 2 years to bring  one up to speed
>(if not just to keep pace).
 
That's why we have this list on  which you can ask QUESTIONS about things
you don't  understand. You  are however expected  not to  make STATEMENTS
about things  you don't understand,  as they in  turn may lead  others to
make decisions based on inaccurate information.
 
>Eric, I would  love to play the  CD's forever and ever.  However, I have
>been  notified  by the  electrical  company  that the  new  frequencies,
>through which AC electrical current will be provided, will sometime this
>summer  come into  effect, furthermore  creating harmonic  distortion in
>CD-player controls that dis-allows the listeners to program the player.
 
No, you have  read in a magazine  about golf that there  are rumours that
CD's will  stop working soon.  If you have  any statement from  CREN that
says BITNET will  be terminated this summer,  I would like to  see it. If
you meant your university is leaving BITNET, I don't see how that affects
you. The  LISTSERV's will still  be there and you  will still be  able to
send mail  to them. The BITNET  subscribers are a minority  nowadays, you
know.
 
>Now here is where the big quandary comes into effect. I am noticing that
>electrical  companies  all  around  the world  are  adopting  these  new
>frequencies as  part of their systems.  Oh yes, they offer  both the new
>and the old frequencies. But for how long?
 
It  is irrelevant  since  appliances  working on  DC  couldn't care  less
whether the original frequency was 50Hz  or 60Hz. But since you aren't an
electrical engineer  you can't know  that, and instead of  asking someone
who understands these things you write  to the local music club and state
that all  CD's will stop working  when the frequency is  changed and that
there will be no  way to repair them, and ask around  what they are going
to do about their CD's. You create a certain amount of panick, but then a
knowledgeable CD  owner shows that  you don't  know what you  are talking
about and you make  a fool of yourself. But then  instead of dropping the
argument, you make up a case to  try to convince the engineers that there
really IS  going to be  a major problems for  CD's when the  frequency is
changed to 50Hz and it won't be possible to solve it without developing a
special,  fuzzy-logic,   microprocessor-driven  filter  like   these  new
japanese  heaters you  saw  in  the last  issue  of  your local  baseball
magazine, and wonder why it is they aren't working on that. The engineers
shake their heads in amazement and keep laughing while you mutter in your
corner. That's what happened.
 
  Eric