In a message dated 9/10/98 12:42:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
dlau@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
<< But that was just my point: you have to keep copying the data every
few years if you want to preserve it. On the other hand, if the
data is kept on a medium that does not obsolete in a few years, then
you don't have to keep copying it (for all practical purposes, all
medium will preserve the data for decades, if not centuries). The
carvings of ancient Egypt can still be read today, the same with the
menuscripts of the middle ages, and the printed books of the previous
centuries. The pictures taken 75-100 years ago can still be seen,
and the photographs taken 50 years ago can still be reprinted from the
negatives -- all this without copying every few years. >>
Again, I agree. The point I was trying to make was that with digital, it is at
least possible to make EXACT duplicates, with no loss in the information. I
personally am not a big fan of digital (at least not as the technolgy exists
today). I hope to be able to stick with my OM's for a long time to come.
While we may still be able to look at 100 year old photographs, I suspect that
unless they are kept in controlled environments in museums, we won't be able
to look at them in another 100 years. Expect of course, for the ones we make
copies of (be they on silver or in bits and bytes). But these copies will NOT
be exact duplicates of the original.
The current state of digital imaging is certainly far from perfect. As long as
the market continues to drive change at such a prodigious rate we are going to
have to live with it. I suppose maybe some day we'll have a standard that
everyone thinks offers enough quality and convenience that it need never
change. That'll probably be about the time 3D imaging comes to the forefront,
and we can start all over again :-).
In the mean time there aren't too many manuscripts still surviving from the
middle ages, and the Ektachromes my father took 40 years ago are starting to
fade (although the Kodachromes still look good, but they'll fade in time,
too)...
Paul Schings
Coventry RI
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