Chad Smith wrote:
50 years....
There is one format ... that existed 50 years ago that is
still in use today - ...
It's called *PAPER*.
>
> If something is important enough to be needed 50 years from now, I
> sure as heck hope *SOMEONE* has the forethought to print it out!
You may be interested in this: The records from the Viking landers are
completely unreadable today. Try as they might, scientists haven't been
able to find software that can read the data in those tapes.
Fortunately, they managed to find paper print-outs of the Viking data,
so they got a bunch of students to transcribe the data.
I'm glad that someone thought of making a paper print-out of this
valuable data. But I sure wish that they had used an open, documented
format (e.g. ASCII) so that today, if they can't find copies of the old
software, they can at least write new one to read the data.
In the year 2055, when people access the GoogleNet through their free
nano-implants, I severally doubt it will matter what file format the
government saved my electronic birth certificate in.
I think it might matter a lot. Paper printouts do have limitations. It's
expensive to transcribe thousands of pages of data by hand, it's
expensive to store, and expensive to search.
You really think this
propriatary DRM RIAA MPAA stuff is going to hold up technologically to 50
years of hackers, crackers, white hats, and black hats?
I think it might, yes. Please read the book "Free Culture" by Lawrence
Lessig.
http://www.free-culture.cc/freecontent/
Most of the records (movies,music) from 20-40 years ago are being lost
because the magnetic tapes that store them are going bad, and the
librarians holding them are not allowed to make copies without doing a
prohibitive ammount of research to find all the original copyright
owners and ask them for permission. Hence, a huge portino of an entire
gneeration's culture is being lost.
Something like DRM and the DMCA will make the problem even worse.
Crackers and black hats are not a suitable solution for a librarian.
These records exist, today, in a readable format that will remain a
readable format as long as people have computers.
This is demonstrably false. I've given examples where it wasn't. The
problem is real.
Cheers,
Daniel.
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