OT: Archiving data/video/movies/photos/oral history

From: Eric Smith <eric_at_brouhaha.com>
Date: Fri Jun 2 18:27:33 2000

I wrote:
> Some archivists suggest that it may not be possible to read CD-ROMs
> 30 years from now, because they may have been replaced by something
> else by then, just as the 7-track tape that was common 30 years ago
> is all but impossible to read now.

Of course, this view overlooks the fact that 7-track tape drives were
large, expensive and typically not owned by individuals, whereas there
are millions of CD-ROM drives owned by individuals now. This suggests
that even if CD-ROM were to be obsoleted tomorrow, that it probably
still won't be that hard to turn up a working or repairable drive
30 years from now.

Perhaps in 30 years the CD-ROM problem will be more akin to that of
finding working 8-track players or 78 RPM turntables today. There are
still some around, but they aren't commonplace.
Received on Fri Jun 02 2000 - 18:27:33 BST