Posted by Rick Merrill on 08/07/06 23:32

Bill Anderson wrote:

> Tim V. wrote:
>
>> "Long John" <mcranch@pacific.net> wrote in
>> news:12d5ph24gvhdj4a@corp.supernews.com:
>>
>>> "Bob" <spam@uce.gov> wrote in message
>>> news:44a66f3c.80777218@news-server.houston.rr.com...
>>>
>>>> On Sat, 01 Jul 2006 07:27:15 -0400, Rick Merrill
>>>> <rick0.merrill@NOSPAMgmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>> OK, then buy the most expensive discs, but let us know that you are
>>>>>> planning to do that so we will know.
>>>>>
>>>>> And call back in 20 years to see how it all worked out!-)
>>>>
>>>> Pretty soon flash memory is going to be priced so cheaply that we can
>>>> afford to archive using it. For now the only safe way to know your
>>>> content will be around in 20 years is to put it on a hard disk.
>>>
>>> But will the hard drives of today even function 20 years from now..?
>>>
>>> Will computers in the future have compatible connections..?
>>>
>>> Back in 1984 I started out using Wordstar in a Morrow cpm machine
>>> that used EIGHT INCH FLOPPIES, and the Seagate ST225 (20 Mb)
>>> was barely invented... How many machines today can accomodate an
>>> 8" floppy, or for that matter, a ST225 drive ..?
>>>
>>> As a broadcaster who has seen celluloid film crumble with age, I'd do
>>
>> 3
>>
>>> redundant
>>> Data Disk backups at a slower burn speed "just to make sure"...
>>>
>>
>> Point taken, but things are becoming more modular. Stuff like the
>> memory card readers that use USB connectors to hook up. They'll be
>> compatible for a longer period of time than the 8" froppies (I remember
>> using them!) were. I've already moved stuff off my old 5.25" froppies
>> to 3.5" floppies, then to hard disk, then to cdr's.
>>
>> I think we need to accept the fact that if we want to save things for
>> 20+ years, we'll have to periodically change the media they are saved on.
>>
>>
>>
>
> Yeah. And great-grandma's photo album and letters tied in ribbon still
> work just like they always did. If the purpose of our collections is
> preservation for future generations, are we really making progress?
>

Probably not, but it just feels good!-)

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