Digital memories won't last forever

Deseret Morning News ^ | 11.29.04 | Katie Hafner Katie Hafner Katie Hafner Katie Hafner

[Dr. Zzyzx]

Ahhh, this soothes some of my angst about not owning a digital camera yet.

[Bikers4Bush]

How hard is it to burn images to a CD for crying out loud?

[Dr. Zzyzx]

Oops, don't even know Katie Hafner. Don't know why I had to write her name over and over.

[pabianice]

Duh. CD. Good for 100+ years. Non-magnetic.

[Fierce Allegiance]

obsolete computers, stacks of Zip disks and 3 1/2-inch diskettes, even the larger 5-inch floppy disks from the 1980s.

I used to lug punch cards for my dad when he rented cpu time on the weekends. I was very happy when the 11" floppy's came along. My dad still has a bunch in his cellar, but no machine to use them on.

[reagandemo]

Oh I get it. Let's go back to using tin type. Boy those images will last and last and last! CD's will last as long as you protect them. Also I bet just like 8mm that there will be ways of reading them much longer than any of us will be around. Remember the marketing will drive this. Where there is a way to make a profit there is a way.

[coloradan]

Sure you do. You've got a big, secret crush on her. Well, it isn't secret any more!

[coloradan]

How long to CDs last?

[Boundless]

> How hard is it to burn images to a CD for crying out loud?

Not hard at all, but do they last?

I have Kodak PhotoCDs from the 1990s that are already
unreadable, despite ideal handling & storage.

You can buy this stuff:
http://store.mam-a-store.com/standard---archive-gold.html
but even so, unless you have a stewardship process in
place, verifying or re-copying them every few years,
there is substantial risk of loss.

And bargain-brand CDR media is entirely unreliable,
esp. the Russian-made junk.

[ml/nj]

11" floppy's

Really? My first floppies were eight inches or something like that. I, too, have a bunch in my basement with nothing to read them on.

ML/NJ

[Capriole]

I have a ca. 1981 ATT PC which still runs Wordstar very nicely. Am trying to figure out how on EARTH to get some of the data off the hard drive and onto my regular computer. My sixteen-year-old daughter's baby journal is on there and it's precious. So are the early novels I wrote but never published, which are now suddenly in demand. If anyone has any suggestions short of retyping, please let me know!

[conejo99]

I wouldn't bet too heavily on the burned CD/DVD being readable
for that long. They are made with various organic dyes an must be protected from light, heat, and air. They are not all created with the same processes or materials and none have
existed for 100 years.

[Bikers4Bush]

Well I have some from the 80's that are still good as new and work just fine so at least 20+ years.

Admittedly I personally don't trust the digital age and just got a digital camera recently after giving in to my wife.

I still prefer having negatives but you can't beat the ability to delete bad pictures.

Whoever comes up with the ability to transfer digital images to negatives cost effectively will make a mint.

[Revolting cat!]

CDs lasting 100 years? Sez who? I've read reports of music CDs deteriorating after several years. And don't tell me "oh, those are the early CDs. the technology is much improved now", just show me a 100 year old CD that plays and I'll show you a 100 year old wax cylinder that still plays!

Arrogant fools in every age think everything is better than everything that preceeded it.

[Marysecretary]

If you have a local college, perhaps their ITS office could help out.

[Bikers4Bush]

Go on Ebay and find a compatible printer. Then you can at least print them out and scan them into a newer format.

[ProudVet77]

Different type of CD. Back then they were analog. As long as the media is digital any kind of conversion is possible. Many banks still have very old records on 9 track tapes, and they are still surefull.

[xander]

All of this stuff will last as long as it takes to get to the next big breakthrough in digital storage. I'm already transferring my CD's to DVD's, my VHS too. All my images are stored on both CD and DVD and an external hard drive and internal drive. Objective is just like the market, don't put them all in one place. Actually, it's an advantage over the old film negs since I can make unaltered copies without degradation and store them in numerous places.

[artzboy]

It's not just the issue of burning images to a disk. It's being able to find software to view the images. As a professional photographer, I can tell you that there are already problems associated with viewing some of the first digital images I captured six years ago.

[Publius6961]

How hard is it to burn images to a CD for crying out loud?

Since CDs haven't been in widespread use for 100 years yet, that's totally a "head in the sand" presumption. I doubt if even the stamped gold plated CDs will last 100 years.