karl Shah-Jenner <shahjen@xxxxxxxxxxxx> writes: > Brian writes: >> Dunno, but it's a truly crazy idea. Film degenerates; numbers don't. Why >> do you suppose we still have Greek literature, but only shadows of the >> painting and sculpture. > > aside from linguistic and semantic interpretation, those same greek works > are readable with merely a set of eyes and a brain (much as film is). > > 1's and 0's in vast quantities prove somewhat more difficult, let alone > including the problems of delaminated CD's, error ridden DVD's, crashed, > accidentally formatted or scrambled HDD's . We've been over this a number of times. A properly maintained digital archive is a wonderful thing. But managing it involves regular reviews of media readability and copying to new media, or new *types* of media, as needed, for *everything* in the archive. And also taking advantage of the ability to have *multiple* copies all as good as any other; so long as only one copy survives, the archive has succeeded. On the other hand, digital data just left to sit decays in various ways relatively quickly -- even a decade of inattention is very risky. Suitable "analog" media are much more stable sitting in an attic. Essentially *nothing* we have from the ancient world came down to us through having been in an archive or well-maintained collection the whole time. -- David Dyer-Bennet, <mailto:dd-b@xxxxxxxx>, <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/> RKBA: <http://noguns-nomoney.com/> <http://www.dd-b.net/carry/> Pics: <http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/>,<http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/> Dragaera/Steven Brust: <http://dragaera.info/>
