In the recent articles regarding the use of RTV silicone for sealing
pneumatics to deck boards, I have a couple questions:

- Did RTV silicone sealant exist in the early 1900s?

- If it had, isn't it possible that the designers would have chosen
it as the best material for the job over hot hide glue?

Also, I think that the fact that there are dozens of different designs
for player systems proves that the original builders themselves were
always trying to improve things [or to avoid infringing patents --
Robbie].  In this case too, it shows that they were willing to try
different things for attaching pneumatics.  No gasket, paper, leather,
which is best?  Apparently even those guys couldn't agree.  We can't
even say that the newest/most recent design is the best; that only
means it was the latest experiment.

Add cost and price to the situation.  Maybe leather gaskets _were_ the
best design, but others chose paper or no gaskets simply because they
wanted a greater profit margin.  In a business, cost is always an
issue.

The real answer to this latest gasket issue will come in 30 years,
when people start rebuilding this generation's players.  Will they
curse the RTV silicone users, or praise them as innovators?

Bill Mackin, Iowa