Comments on: Digital Dark Ages http://www.dakwegmo.com/digital-dark-ages paying the price of liberty Sun, 06 Dec 2009 13:23:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Laura http://www.dakwegmo.com/digital-dark-ages/comment-page-1#comment-13 Laura Wed, 05 Apr 2006 18:39:40 +0000 http://www.dakwegmo.com/?p=9#comment-13 It's funny, but I once read a book (cheesy fiction but still enjoyable) where the main heroine travels back from the future to the present. In the future, all the digital archives have failed (cds and dvds didn't last, computers crashed), and decades of information were lost. I just find it interesting that two such different sources touch on the same idea. It’s funny, but I once read a book (cheesy fiction but still enjoyable) where the main heroine travels back from the future to the present. In the future, all the digital archives have failed (cds and dvds didn’t last, computers crashed), and decades of information were lost. I just find it interesting that two such different sources touch on the same idea.

]]> By: marcus http://www.dakwegmo.com/digital-dark-ages/comment-page-1#comment-6 marcus Tue, 24 Jan 2006 23:55:24 +0000 http://www.dakwegmo.com/?p=9#comment-6 The main point of the article that I read on slashdot.org was that burned CDs only have a 2-5 year life span. I've read that the life span is even shorter for burned DVDs. If there's anything you store on these media, you need to check them regularly and make sure the media is fresh otherwise you could lose anything that's archived digitally. A digital photography boook that I am reading also recommends storing identical copies of photos on different brands of CD, because you never know when they will fail. I have begun a project to make sure that my favorite photos are copied to remote sites (like gallery.com and this very server). In the event of a catastrophic failure I will still have a representative sample of the photos I have taken. The main point of the article that I read on slashdot.org was that burned CDs only have a 2-5 year life span. I’ve read that the life span is even shorter for burned DVDs. If there’s anything you store on these media, you need to check them regularly and make sure the media is fresh otherwise you could lose anything that’s archived digitally.

A digital photography boook that I am reading also recommends storing identical copies of photos on different brands of CD, because you never know when they will fail. I have begun a project to make sure that my favorite photos are copied to remote sites (like gallery.com and this very server). In the event of a catastrophic failure I will still have a representative sample of the photos I have taken.

]]> By: Peregrine http://www.dakwegmo.com/digital-dark-ages/comment-page-1#comment-5 Peregrine Tue, 24 Jan 2006 12:03:27 +0000 http://www.dakwegmo.com/?p=9#comment-5 I have a good friend who compiles video family histories for things like weddings and graduation parties. Everytime he does this he give the customer a couple of DVDs to watch and have for general use. He also give them the original digital tapes of the raw video in a static resistant bag and tells them to put it in a safe deposit box for safe keeping. I totally see your point about the value of a hard copy. At work we rely on a digital "map" of the city to tell where all of the lines are running and how they are spliced. occationally this map crashes and there are a bunch of engineers just standing around waiting for it to be fixed. The ironic thing is that some older parts of the city still have a papaer record and we can access the paper records if needed and still keep working. As you put it, there could be a digital dark age for a lot of the work that we did in the last decade even though earlier work is still availible. Thanks for the post. It gave me something to think about as far as my work and my personal journals. I have a good friend who compiles video family histories for things like weddings and graduation parties. Everytime he does this he give the customer a couple of DVDs to watch and have for general use. He also give them the original digital tapes of the raw video in a static resistant bag and tells them to put it in a safe deposit box for safe keeping.
I totally see your point about the value of a hard copy. At work we rely on a digital “map” of the city to tell where all of the lines are running and how they are spliced. occationally this map crashes and there are a bunch of engineers just standing around waiting for it to be fixed. The ironic thing is that some older parts of the city still have a papaer record and we can access the paper records if needed and still keep working. As you put it, there could be a digital dark age for a lot of the work that we did in the last decade even though earlier work is still availible.
Thanks for the post. It gave me something to think about as far as my work and my personal journals.

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