The Digital Recording Revolution.

When the North Bay, Ontario courthouse had an analog recorder malfunction during its last sentencing hearing, the Ministry of the Attorney General finally decided that it was time to think about getting digital equipment  to replace the old cassette based system.

According to The Nugget, a hearing for a pedophile was suspended for two hours after the cassette recorder that the courtroom used failed to work. The facility actually had two backup devices, but surprisingly, those failed to operate as well.

A few people, including the defense attorney, voiced concerns about the accuracy of the transcripts from the outdated cassette recorders. The lawyer also added that the delays are hindering the courtroom's productivity and could be an issue with clients as well, the news outlet added.

Brendan Crawley, ministry spokesperson, explained that the Ministry of the Attorney General is actually in the process of replacing all of the outdated devices around the province with brand new digital voice recorders and that the North Bay courthouse is expected to have its equipment replaced in the fall.

This is just one example of the problem with aging analog equipment still in use today.  Unfortunately, due to budget constraints, or resistance to change, many organizations cling to this outdated technology.

"We usually get calls only when  there is a catastrophic failure such as happened in North Bay" states Paul Ross, of American Dictation Corp.  "It is when the analog equipment fails, and they realize there are few repair parts available, that they start to search for alternatives".

The good news is that today's digital recording technology is both affordable and easy to implement and use.  In many cases, the equipment costs less that it's analog counterparts did over a decade ago.  When you consider the relatively low cost, and the advances in technology, the decision to switch to digital is an easy one to make.