Seen on RISKS-L

From: Douglas Quebbeman <dhquebbeman_at_theestopinalgroup.com>
Date: Thu Mar 7 13:29:14 2002

> >Moral/Risk: If you are wanting long-term data storage, the format is just
as
> >important as the materials.
> >
> >This is not a new problem - It has appeared in Risks before (RISKS-21.56:
> >'NASA data from 1970s lost due to "forgotten" file format' for one...), but
> >is worth keeping in mind. I still have an old Commodore 64/128 disk with my
> >(very) old account details on it - not that I have a C64/128 any more. My
> >permanent records, however, are the printouts.

Hogwash. I can't recall how many times someone handed me a
tape back in the 80s, totally unaware of the format of the
data on it, that required only time and dedication in order
to turn back into something useful.

NASA hasn't lost data, it's lost the will to hire and
retain talented people who can make things work. Just
like everyplace else in this whacko economy...

-dq
Received on Thu Mar 07 2002 - 13:29:14 GMT