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PUBLISHER'S LETTER Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Leo Simpson, B.Bus., FAICD Production Manager Greg Swain, B.Sc.(Hons.) Technical Staff John Clarke, B.E.(Elec.) Robert Flynn Rick Walters Reader Services Ann Jenkinson Advertising Manager Brendon Sheridan Phone (03) 9720 9198 Mobile 0416 009 217 Regular Contributors Brendan Akhurst Garry Cratt, VK2YBX Julian Edgar, Dip.T.(Sec.), B.Ed John Hill Mike Sheriff, B.Sc, VK2YFK Ross Tester Philip Watson, MIREE, VK2ZPW Bob Young SILICON CHIP is published 12 times a year by Silicon Chip Publications Pty Ltd. A.C.N. 003 205 490. All material copyright ©. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Printing: Macquarie Print, Dubbo, NSW. Distribution: Network Distribution Company. Subscription rates: $54 per year in Australia. For overseas rates, see the subscription page in this issue. Editorial & advertising offices: Unit 34, 1-3 Jubilee Avenue, Warrie­ wood, NSW 2102. Postal address: PO Box 139, Collaroy Beach, NSW 2097. Phone (02) 9979 5644. Fax (02) 9979 6503. ISSN 1030-2662 * Recommended and maximum price only. 2  Silicon Chip Compact discs are simply too expensive Just recently the Federal Cabinet has been deliberating on the cost of CDs and trying to decide whether to open the industry to more competition from overseas suppliers. Predictably, the local recording industry has trotted out the usual jaded and faded “rock stars” to plead their special case. Well, they can plead all they want and the Government can decide to do something or nothing but whatever happens, the sales of CDs will continue to fall while they stay at around $30 or more. Record buyers instinctively know that $30 for a piece of plastic is just too much. Every time they see a computer magazine with a CD-ROM stuck to the front they get the same subliminal message rammed home: CDs and CD-ROMs are dirt cheap to produce. That message is reinforced when you go to weekend street stalls and see literally hundreds or thousands of CDs being knocked down at far less than $30. And of course, there are any number of Australian musicians who have decided to have their own CDs produced and they happily sell them for less then $30 and they do very nicely thank you very much. There are also a number of classical labels such as Naxos which retail for $9.95 and by and large, they are very good buying. All of the above is bad enough for the record marketing companies with their King Canute stance but there are several other factors eating away at the sales of full priced CDs. First, most people don’t much like the current crop of so-called “rock stars” and neither do the radio stations. More and more they play the music of the 60s, 70s and 80s. That should tell the record companies something. Second, sales of recordable CDs are booming. You can now buy them for close to $5 each in quantities of 10. You can bet your life that most of these are not being used just to copy data and software; they’re being used for pirate copies of CDs. Third, many people are buying CDs overseas, either via the Internet or via overseas travel. You can save a bundle and the choice is much wider too. So no matter what the record companies do, while ever their full priced CDs sell for $30, they are going to be white-anted. The first company to reduce their prices to around $20 will make a killing. Leo Simpson