Technology and human expertise: Some do’s and don’ts

An information record employs a storage medium comprising a metallized base material having a dielectric coating thereon. The dimensions of an information track contained in a groove in the storage medium vary in accordance with recorded information. The capacitance between an electrode in a pickup tracking in said groove and the metallized surface of the storage medium varies in accordance with the modulated information track as the pickup device scans the recording medium. Circuitry responding to said capacitance variations provides an output signal corresponding to the information recorded. One application of such a system is to record, on both sides of a disc, video information which can be reproduced in form of a video display. Recording apparatus utilizes a scanning electron microscope to bombard successive resist-coated groove bottom regions of a recording master disc with an electron beam, controlled in intensity in accordance with signals being recorded. A stamping disc, derived from the developed recording master disc, is used to impress a replica disc of thermoplastic material (e.g., vinyl). Replica disc is coated with a conductive material (e.g., aluminum), and a layer of dielectric material is deposited over the conductive coating.