Re: [photo-3d] digital family memories

[Brian Reynolds <reynolds@xxxxxxxxx>]

Andy Beals wrote:
> On Sat, 17 Jun 2000 08:38:13 -0500, "Jim Harp" <matmail2@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > 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.
> 

Availability of source code isn't going to help much if the language
isn't supported any more.  How many people today have a compiler that
can use original FORTRAN or Algol/68?  In forty years I don't expect
the then current language to resemble C at all.

> > 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.
> 

I currently have three different formats of 5-14" inch floppies, two
formats of 3-1/2" floppies, 1/4" tape, 1/2" tape, punched cards, 8mm
tape, 4mm tape, and various CD-ROM formats.  Of these I believe that
the punched cards will be the only ones readable in 100 years.  Many
of the tapes and floppies are already unreadable after less than ten
years.

> 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]
> 

This is the biggest problem with digital media.  People will not
migrate to new media.  NASA has already lost huge amounts of data from
the early space missions because there is no hardware or software to
read the tapes, and the tapes that are readable are disintegrating
faster than they can be read and transferred to new media.  The
Library of Congress is havning similar problems.  The fact that it is
theoretically possible to transfer data between media doesn't make it
actually so.

-- 
Brian Reynolds                  | "Dee Dee!  Don't touch that button!"
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