[Cialug] long term storage

[Thomas Kula]

On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 12:39:25PM -0500, Colin Burnett wrote:
> 
> That being equal there is no archiving of digital data.  I can put a
> book on a shelf and still read it in 200 years (granted it's data
> density is rather small).  Can you make that assertion about any

Actually, I think that your book example suffers exactly the same
problems that digital data suffers from today, it's just that books
have had much longer to become a mature technology. Can you put
a book on a shelf and read it in 200 years? Well, what kind of
paper did you print it on? How was it stored? Did creepy-crawlies
get to it before you did, or mold, or damp? So, books suffer from
bitrot too, we just know (now) that you should use acid-free paper
and non-reactive inks and store them at a certain temperature and
humidity away from wee beasties and light. And, well, in 200 years
who knows what whatever language you wrote it it will look like?
And if the idioms you used in writing it will still make sense to
folks trying to read it? I mean, you have to look up now to discover
that "stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni" means 
"I think a feather in my hat looks stylish" not "I think a feather
in my hat is now some sort of pasta" and that's only, what, 
two-hundred fiftyish or so years old. You might have good luck 
if you print the book in English, but if you're the poor chap who
spoke Linear B good luck getting someone around now who knows 
what you're going on about.



-- 
Thomas L. Kula | kula at tproa.net | http://kula.tproa.net/
Mathom House in Midtown, The People's Republic of Ames