[templar]

There have been extensive discussions in the last few years arguing that the only reliable archival medium is acid-free paper.

The problem is that a lot of what we are storing in now digital in nature. It just doesn't lend itself to any meaninfull paper storage. Maybe we ought to go back to the old style of recording, but on titanium instead of vinyl for important stuff. Edison records still play just fine.

[RadioAstronomer]

Maybe we ought to go back to the old style of recording, but on titanium instead of vinyl for important stuff

How do we store and retrieve the data? Literally millions of bits/second are being recorded non-stop in millions of places simultaneously.

[Publius6961]

Maybe we ought to go back to the old style of recording, but on titanium instead of vinyl for important stuff. Edison records still play just fine.

What almost made me cry is the discovery that a Japanese company actually is producing a contact-free laser driven turntable that nobody can afford to buy at $10k a pop.

If mass produced and simplified by advancing electronic technology, I can foresee stamped media literally lasting indefinitely, and affordable to a larger segment of the world.

I sure as heck can't afford one currently.

[Physicist]

Maybe we ought to go back to the old style of recording, but on titanium instead of vinyl for important stuff.

Nickel is the stuff to use:

Edison records still play just fine.

Sometimes they fail.

[null and void]

Maybe we ought to go back to the old style of recording, but on titanium instead of vinyl for important stuff. Edison records still play just fine.

Titanium would work. Strong, stable surface oxide, and unmeltable in an ordinary fire.