In a message dated 9/10/98 12:54:09 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
msparks@xxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
<< Dan Lau wrote:
> > I still have boxes of punched cards that are less than 25 years old, and
> > the information is still there. The life span of those punched cards
> > can last another 50 years. But just try to find a card reader that
> > can recover the information today, and you'll understand what I mean.
> > The same can be said for 1/2 inch mag tape, 14 inch disk cartridges,
> > SMD hard drives, MFM hard drives, ESDI hard drives, 8 inch floppies,
> > 5.25 inch floppies, various cartridge tapes, various removable archival
> > storage devices, and so on and so on...
Dan, I agree with your concerns about the impermanece of many forms of
digital storage, and could even add a few of my own. But I think
including modern optical disks in this odd lot is premature. Their mass
acceptance worldwide is a phenomenon that I'd compare to the invention
of the printing press. The loss of digital history would require a
fairly catasrophic interruption in human civiization. >>
I agree with Morgan. One of the key features of digital imaging is the ability
to create an EXACT duplicate of the original. While specific storage
technologies may become outdated, it is a relatively simple matter to copy the
data to newer technologies. I was recently involved in a project where
engineering drawings for nuclear submarines, which had been stored for 10
years on 12" glass WORM (Write Once Read Many) disks were copied to newer,
5-1/4" platters, specifically because the 12" versions had become obsolete.
I'm sure the 5-1/4" platters will last us at least another 10 years, at which
time we'll migrate to something newer and better.
I've also noticed that the industry is getting better at making the technology
backward compatible. The 2.6GB 5-1/4" optical drives we put in can read both
the earlier 1.3GB and 650MB platters. The new DVD drives can also read older
CDs. So maybe we're making some progress...
Paul Schings
Coventry, RI
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