Re: Media mortality (< facing your own mortality)

On 03/07/08 23:50:20, li_sasxsek@NUTTER.NET wrote:
>
> > [mailto:CONLANG@listserv.brown.edu] On Behalf Of Tristan
> McLeay
>
> > ...
> > > Digital media is getting better, and is still much better
> than
> > > some of the preceding types.  Magnetic media had to be one
> of
> > > the worst, but now we have optical media like DVD's and
> CD's.
> > > The ability to easily copy them means there *should* always
> be a
> > > backup.
> >
> > Wrong --- it requires continued interest at least every second
> > generation. Getting a 5.25" floppy onto a CD would've been
> easy when CDs
> > were new, but you'd find it difficult to get one onto a USB
> drive or
> > DVD/BluRay disc.
>
> Getting it onto DVD or BluRay will be the same process.  It
> would involve getting an old machine to read the old media and
> copying the files.  Even my old Apple II files could be put on a
> DVD.
Could be --- in theory. But in practice you can't. You don't have an
old computer that can read the file. My point was that in the early
days of CDs, 5.25" floppy drives were still common --- I doubt anyone
had a computer with both a burner and a 5.25" floppy drive, but it
wouldn't've been hard to find them both. Today if you didn't own a
5.25" floppy drive it would be a difficult exercise to try and find
one, and even if you've got one from a dead computer you can't
necessarily plug it into any computer as laptops, all-in-ones and next-
generation plugs are becoming more common.

But in any case, I fear we're going around in circles. My point is that
digital media only adds extra problems to data storage as compared with
print media. I will add no more than that.

--
Tristan.

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