On Fri, 22 Jun 2001, Brian Chase wrote:
> > I completely recommend AGAINST destroying the original. Not only is it in
> > some cases a historical artifact on its own, if the digital copy were ever
> > to be lost then you're SOL.
>
> I'm against the idea of destroying the original as well, but I think
> your point about losing the digital copy is pretty silly. It's
> digital... just make lots of copies and spread them around. I'd say
> it's a lot more dangerous to only have the original.
Brian, this has been discussed at great length before (perhaps you weren't
around then). Hard copies of documents have survived thousands of years.
Digital magnetic media has only been around for at most 25-30 years. We
don't know what's going to happen to that data 50, 100, 500 years from
now.
If we're going to be preservationists or archivists, it would be wise to
be as conservative as possible, and assume the worst.
Digital copies, everywhere, sure. But I still prefer to hang on to the
hardcopies.
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
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International Man of Intrigue and Danger
http://www.vintage.org
Received on Fri Jun 22 2001 - 11:43:39 BST