Yeah, keeping things around is a real problem. I had a chat with archiving expert Jeff Ubois about just this topic recently. The first two years of my blog are gone, by the way. Bums me out that I didn't back anything up back then. http://www.podtech.net/scobleshow/technology/1253/archive-this-but-do-it-right-jeff-ubois-warns Robert Scoble
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Thu, 21 Dec 2006 22:10:32 -0500Subject: RE: [videoblogging] A question for the group... Wow, I actually read that out loud to my husband. Maybe I won't be a starin 2K years?RobynFrom: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Tom GosseSent: Thursday, December 21, 2006 9:59 PMTo: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: RE: [videoblogging] A question for the group...Last year, while doing some genealogical research at the National Archives,I had the chance to listen in on a conversation about which medium was thebest for archiving records. A National Archives worker said that theirresearch showed that in order of durability and longevity it was: * stone - last forever but not practical.* paper - we have papyrus documents that are two thousand years old,and medieval manuscripts that are five hundred years old that are stillreadable. The problem with paper is that it is too fragile.* Microfilm / microfiche - will last for decades even when in constantuse, good for a hundred years.* Electronic media - standards and software change so fast it canbecome unusable in less than a decade.My former employer decided to move all their documentation (procedures,schematics, etc) to electronic media and thrash all the paper copies. Inless than five years they found they had WordPerfect files they couldn'topen, and Adobe dxf files that wouldn't open in newer versions of AutoCAD.The engineers on board the USS Ronald Reagan are having problems with thelater today.I wonder if the programs we record today will be viewable in ten years fromnow never mind a hundred.Tom Gosse, aka Irish Hermitemail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:hermit%40irishhermit.com> blog/vlog: http://irishhermit.blogspot.com_____ To think that maybe 100 years, 1,000 years from now, someone could watch me, see my life, my ups, my downs, my trips, my friends, my dreams, hopes, etc...What makes you think that? Look around your house / work for digital mediafrom10 years ago. Can you view the files on it now? Does your videocamera/playersupport the formats of years gone by? No? Mine neither. We'll be thegenerationthat leaves a whole pile of digital info behind when we are gone, but mostof itwill be useless. Even if the machines exists to view the info, all the media(CD/DVD etc) have built in obsolescence. It's very unlikely that today'sdatawill survive 100 years into the future. Having said that, it doesn't mean wecan't have fun creating it now. JJust my tuppence worth,Cheers,Garyhttp://www.garyshor <http://www.garyshort.org/> t.org/http://www.carnoust <http://www.carnoustiegolflinks.co.uk/vlog/>iegolflinks.co.uk/vlog/[Non-text portions of this message have been removed][Non-text portions of this message have been removed] _________________________________________________________________ Fixing up the home? Live Search can help. http://imagine-windowslive.com/search/kits/default.aspx?kit=improve&locale=en-US&source=wlmemailtaglinenov06 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
