John Zoltak asks:

> Were these really cheap tapes? I have tapes 20 years old that aren't
>  hard or sticky and they're still readable.

No. Instead they were relatively expensive tapes. As I mentioned in my first
response when John Korb first mentioned his problems with goo (which were
different), tapes only began to have a lubricated surface a few years ago
(perhaps ten). Old tapes are unlubricated and we too have tapes that are 20
years old and are still readily readable.

You never can tell when somebody is going to "improve" things to the point
that they're going to kill you -- with the best of intentions.

Wirt Atmar