The obsolescence of either is enough to render your data unrecoverable. Physical media seems to die out sooner than file formats do simply because it's generally not too hard to keep a file format reader around in software. As you found with ImageMagick. Thank goodness for that at least.
I actually own an 8-bit paper tape reader, 110 baud, chunky mechanical thing with a big motor. The last time I used it to read tapes I cobbled together a 20mA current loop to RS-232 converter and transferred a bunch of data to floppies. If I wanted to use it today I'd like to have a 20mA current loop to Bluetooth interface but I don't imagine they are too plentiful. BTW, the last time I used that reader, I also had to write a DEC PDP-8e emulator to run the code on them. Some of the tapes are in RIM format and some in BIN, all with code from the late 1960s and early 1970s. 'Twas a gas to see the old FOCAL prompt again. On Fri, Feb 13, 2015 at 5:06 PM, Jostein Øksne <[email protected]> wrote: > I think you should differentiate between media obsolence and file format > obsolence. > Jostein > > Den 13. februar 2015 20:34:02 CET, skrev "P.J. Alling" > <[email protected]>: >>Recent motherboards don't even have floppy controllers built onto them >>and no one makes a PCI anything floppy controller add in board, so 5 >>1/4 >>floppys are dead unless you happen to have an older machine, (I have >>one >>for running my film scanner), you can still buy 3 1/2 inch USB floppy >>drives, but they're not 100 percent compatible with anything. In fact >>I >>think it would be easier to find something to read the paper tape than >>an 8" floppy. >> >>On 2/13/2015 2:25 PM, Bruce Walker wrote: >>> I saw a bit of a convo between two Facebook connections with this >>with >>> one disbelieving that this could be a problem. "Someone, somewhere >>can >>> read your old file formats", he stated confidently. >>> >>> I'm tempted to show him some 1" paper tape and ask him if he knows >>> anyone who can still read that. >>> >>> But even relatively modern formats are effectively dead these days. >>> How many of us could read an 8 inch MDS-80 floppy? A 5.25" CP/M or >>> MS-DOS floppy? Even finding a PC or Mac with a 3.5" 1.44M floppy on >>it >>> is non-trivial lately. In a pinch I can read 3.5" floppies, but I'd >>> have to spend a couple of hours jury-rigging something together: an >>> old PC from the basement, running FreeBSD and networked. >>> >>> My late 2014 iMac came with no CD/DVD reader/burner in it. I had to >>> buy a USB one. >>> >>> The digital vellum idea is kinda like VMware, so I get it and it >>makes >>> sense. But printing photos works for me too since I like to see them >>> on my walls anyway. >>> >>> >>> On Fri, Feb 13, 2015 at 12:32 PM, Christine Aguila >>> <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> Hi Team: >>>> >>>> Just thought this might be of interest given a recent thread about >>compatibility of DNG files on old software versions. >>>> >>>> To my mind, more importantly, it makes the case for paper >>:-)))—print your photos—and an even better idea is to make photo >>books—which with Lightroom are really fun and relatively easy to make. >>>> >>>> I’ve recently purchased some archival clam shell photo boxes for >>loose photos, and they’ve been working out well. >>>> >>>> http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-31450389 >>>> >>>> >>>> The solution suggested by internet guru, Vint Cerf, seems >>interesting enough, but printing either a single photo or photo books, >>should still remain a viable option for showcasing and preserving all >>your lovely photos—IMHO :-)!!! >>>> >>>> Cheers, Christine >>>> -- >>>> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >>>> [email protected] >>>> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >>>> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above >>and follow the directions. >>> >>> > > -- > Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity. > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- -bmw -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
