Yeah I can certianly see your concerns. I think perhaps it is one of the quality of the material used rather than the methoeds used to transcribe data onto or perhaps into such material.
On 21 Sep, 17:08, ornamentalmind <[email protected]> wrote: > “…I think it will always be possible to recreate > the tools on which to use old medium.” – lee > > While this is a possibility, I would posit that when our culture is > long dead and buried and our technology has all rusted away into > oblivion, the possibility of a visitor from another planet > reconstructing the tools necessary to reconstruct what was > communicated by old Morse code machines, while perhaps possible after > the specific type of electricity that we used as well as our specific > sense of sound was determined, the actual messages sent over the wires > have long ago decayed to a point that I have grave doubt that they > could be ever captured again. This even though the human psyche and > language would have to be reconstructed too. > > When it comes to digital storage devices, once the technology and/or > media has decayed, something that happens much faster than say the > decay of the pyramids and/or Syrian (or other cultural) stella as well > as is the case for things like the Rosetta stone…something that even > human beings would have been hard pressed to do without when it comes > to understanding and reconstructing older communications. > > And, yes, there are a few people who have old Commodor 64s in > ‘mothballs’. Also, yes, a precious few retain other earlier computers > like the old VM machines (NorthStar produced a nice machine.) And, > there do still exist a few stereoscope viewers, mostly in museums even > though they were invented only about a century ago. Of course, the > cardboard cards with the pictures and messages on them can be read > without the viewer. However, in most cases, the newer the technology, > the shorter the lifespan of it and its associated data. One specific > is the Univac. While it wasn’t even shipped until about 50 years ago, > and major military and corporate monoliths were the purchasers as well > as archivers thereof, I have grave doubt that much if any that was > stored on them still exists. Their ‘useful’ lifespan was not even 20 > years! > > Yes, I know that some of the data most likely was transferred to a > different media, however, this discussion was the spin off from the > idea of leaving behind some sort of recorded video message so that > future generations would know what ‘we’ were about…I have doubts about > this working…at least not working nearly as well as other and much > more ancient media has over the millennia. > > On Sep 21, 8:09 am, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > > I agree and disagree. I still have records, tapes and old CD's that I > > still use. I also still ahve old paper letters from penpals of years > > ago. > > > Meduim does change but I think it will always be possible to recreate > > the tools on which to use old medium. > > > On 21 Sep, 15:58, ornamentalmind <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > “… Perhaps, in the future, it will be standard > > > procedure to leave a video biography before one dies such that people > > > can write an 'extended epitaph' and have their own say that others > > > can > > > refer to….” – Pat [from a different thread] > > > > One of the big technological problems here is that ANY specific > > > technology used for such a video will be obsolete within a decade and/ > > > or the media itself will decay within a similar time span. Paper and > > > ink and paintings can and have lasted thousands of years. Stone and > > > metal messages exist from similar epochs. I remember playing cylinder > > > records on a Victrola type player. (How many still have 78 records?) > > > Also, music from a player of metal disks and a player piano. A few > > > original photos exist, fewer still from the era of the Polaroid > > > camera. And, who still has information stored on punch cards? What > > > about text from a DOS operation system computer? 8-track tape player? > > > Tape cassette player and cassettes? How about just a 10 year old CD? > > > Heck, what about emails from 8 years ago? > > > > People used to save personal letters and many still exist centuries > > > later, at least from ‘famous’ people. This seldom is the case for > > > emails, let alone phone calls or other recorded media. We have become > > > a culture of not only very short attention spans but of even shorter > > > historical memories. > > > > How say you?- Hide quoted text - > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
