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The good news is that due to rising sales of computers, the price of diskettes is falling. The bad news is that the future may bring higher prices for paper. If you still use the #2-Bonded lead word processor, here is some information you should have. Although paper manufacturers only certify the "front side" of a piece of paper, it is a little known fact that the back side is capable of holding the same amount of information. You can use the back side of the paper, but before you do, you should know that there are two sides to every issue. (Ouch! ed.) Paper manufacturers are quick to warn that writing on the back side of the sheet can cause problems with the stored data. The biggest problem is "write through." This occurs if the wrong pencil or pen is used, or if too much pressure is applied during the data transfer. There is a standardization problem, too. Some users turn the paper from top to bottom when using the back side while others flip the sheet from right to left. This can cause a "read error" if the reader uses a different orientation than that of the writer. There is also a pedantic problem which is manifested when government, school officials or publishers refuse to accept data presented on two-sided media. Students and others, however, claim they have used the backs of trillions of sheets with little or no loss of data. A few go as far as to claim that there is a conspiracy among manufacturers, merchandisers and pedants to discourage the use of double-sided media. You must be the sole judge of whether or not you wish to risk using paper on both sides. Here are some tests. Look at a sheet of paper. You can tell the front by the alignment of holes on notebook paper. Hold it up to the light. All good paper has a watermark. When held correctly, the watermark will be readable. Turn the sheet over and examine the back for obvious defects. If you find none, go ahead and try the paper double-sided. Experiment with data that can easily be replaced. It would be a shame to lose valuable data just to save a few pennies buying single-sided paper and using it double-sided. Next month: Deletion Hardware. 3.4B7 from Eberhard Eraser Co.: A Good Buy?
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