Reply With QuoteAt this point in history a CD would be my medium of choice. They have been in public consumption for 25 years or so now without bits falling off of most of them.
Archive Question
OK all you techies, I have a question for you.
If you wanted to store a few songs and a document for the next 30 years, what format would you use?
I attended the funeral of a friend's Mom recently and in a class I'm taking we've been talking about wills and funeral arrangements. The thought crossed my mind. Look at how storage has changed in the last 30 years - from 8" floppies and 8 tracks to all the options we have now.
Do you think there is something available now that will still be commonly retrieveable in 20 to 30 years? If so, what?
At this point in history a CD would be my medium of choice. They have been in public consumption for 25 years or so now without bits falling off of most of them.
8 track.....................
DVD Gold Data Disc, we carry them at work for archival
2005 Lava Orange MSM #601/1428
211 rwhp, 195 ft. lbs on 1/6/07
And punch cards for data storage!Originally Posted by MadMerv
05 MX-5 Mazdaspeed #1024 Titanium Gray Mica
My question would be, what programs would be available to retrieve it in 20 years.
Looking at the computer technologies throughout the last 30 years, I would'nt even know where to start. Sure, Bill Gates is popular for the moment, but look at Unix, Linux, Mac OsX, CPM, MS-Dos, machine language and the like. What will be able to read your storage in 20 years, once you archive it?
05 MX-5 Mazdaspeed #1024 Titanium Gray Mica
Stone Tablets are the only way to go!
I would bet there will be specialty companies offering conversion services, just like you can take those old 8mm home movies down and have them converted to DVD today.
So is that one of your old books from high school?Stone Tablets are the only way to go!
It was the Christmas card we got last year from Onething.
YES, like the Company I work for
2005 Lava Orange MSM #601/1428
211 rwhp, 195 ft. lbs on 1/6/07
If you're real paranoid, by a cheap PC with a CD Rom, burn a copy onto Disc and store the whole kit and kaboodle in an enviromentally controlled stoage place.
As far as predicting technology 20-30 years from now, I imagine CDs will be very much like punch cards are today.
Think about 30 years ago. 1977 No personal computers, cell phones, etc..
Even 20 years ago, 1987.
Could you easily retrieve anything off of 5 1/4 Floppy today?
Unless you have functional hardware in 20-30 years, I don't know what to tell you.
If your concerned about redundancy I would have more than one copy made. If size is an issue go with DVD over CD format. And if you can fit it on a CD also get a FLASH USB drive; and lock them up in a safe. The other option would be to send it to yourself in an E-mail (Depending on the size of course) Those servers are backed up by professionals with unlimited resources and constant upgrades
Also for E-mailing things to yourself. IBM has a program called chop.exe it will divide the program into equal sizes and as many as you would like. (However large you would like) and then you can E-mail yourself the smaller sizes. Its almost like a jigsaw puzzle
The program was initially made for programs and files that were to large to put on a floppy disk 1.44mb
Blah blah blah!
Not even that will guarentee that it will work in 20 years. There are bateries that keep the clock running that will be toast. Mice could always get into the storage place and piss on the hard drive and motherboard(personal experience). Certain electronic componenets need to have power to stay good, while other compponents wear out by constant power.
My friend gave me an old Rockwell AIM computer from 1976 that he built in a kit form. The Apple was built around that time. I knew a guy that had a PET computer in 1977. I think the TRS-80 was available.
05 MX-5 Mazdaspeed #1024 Titanium Gray Mica
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