Jim...
This treasure is far too valuable to leave sitting on the shelf.
Although I am no electronics type, I am quite sure that there IS some
way to play and transfer this to a more friendly media. Consider:
1. Oral history centers are increasingly important and cropping up
in more and more universities. What you have represents gold
nuggets to them. I would urge you to check with those in your area
for recommendations.
2. The Smithsonian has a massive project of restoring early
recording media, from wax cylinders to those funny platters called
"records". I would begin with their PR office, but would also use
its web site to search out other departments that might provide
leads. (The National Archives also has such a project.)
In the meantime, I will be checking with an early television
"technologist" who was building home-made stereos and slide/sound
presentations before they were commercially available.
So, Buster, if you burn this off onto CD, what makes you think your
great Grandkids will be able to get it back off the CD?
I may be dumb, but I ain't stupid. (Although that is not a universal
belief!) I will be putting printed copies in our family history project
that goes to each of our children and grandchildren. In the covering
instructions, each successive generation is asked to update these
materials into the most current media of the time, retaining the
originals, as well.
When I was teaching history at a major university, I asked my students
if they would like to read or hear of their ancestors' experiences in
the Civil War, in the Norman invasion, or in ancient Rome. While they
couldn't, they could take steps to make sure their descendants could
hear them describe the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, or how
they felt when man landed on the moon.
Oh, I know it is the historian in me, but we can all help our
descendants have a better understanding of ourselves and our times.
Buster
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