Re: [photo-3d] digital family memories

[Andy Beals <bandy@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Sat, 17 Jun 2000 08:38:13 -0500, "Jim Harp" <matmail2@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
> >
> >Therefore, my goal is to leave my daughter an annotated family album.  The 
> >quickest and easiest way I have found to do this is to switch to digital for 
> >snaps.  I have a nice little program ["Gallery", got it off of the net] which 
> >builds thumbnails, a click'n'go thumbnail page and lets me attach text to the 
> >images. 
> 
> I'm concerned that there isn't a digital storage medium currently available
> that will safely retain images for the long term.  I believe CDRs are
> supposed to be good for about 12 years if stored in ideal conditions. 

I think you're off by a factor of ten, there.

>  Most hard drives fail sooner than that. 

You're absolutely right.  I buy a new hard drive every other year or so, copy 
my old data up and have fun with the extra space.

> There's also the question of how easy it
> will be to access turn of the century digital photo formats in say the year
> 2040.  

Ah, but there is source code freely available that describes the image 
formats.  Major difference between a JPG file [source code format known] and 
files in some ancient word processor format that everyone has forgotten how it 
works.

> Of course if you regularly back up your image data to new storage
> media and formats this won't be a problem, but often family photos are
> stored away and their value isn't realized until years have passed. 

I have a very few 5.25" floppies that I need to copy off before I retire that 
size of floppy.  I have migrated my tape storage from 8mm to 4mm.

But you are right.  Things often get neglected and or put away.  This is why 
I'm planning on keeping it all on a web server and encouraging relatives to 
ask for copies.  [we also keep three hot copies here at the house]

> Perhaps
> we should all be copying our treasured family digital photos onto
> Kodachrome, which seems unsurpassed as a long term storage media for color
> images.  Jim Harp

I certainly agree with you about this w/r/t color images.  All of the old 
[commercial  -- ok ViewMaster] Kodachromes I have are in great shape.  Old 
non-Kodachromes look awful and washed-out.