Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

How Long Do You Want Digital Media To Last?

Posted by timothy on from the until-1-day-before-I-need-it dept.

spamfiltertest writes "CNET asks 'Would you like your digital-storage media to last 20 years, 25 years, 30 years, 35 years or 40 years?' If you're an organization or government agency, the U.S. government and an optical-disc industry group would like you to answer that question in a quick survey. I would think that we would like our data to last forever, but maybe it's just me."

11 of 398 comments (clear)

  1. Secrets? by kneecarrot · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sometimes I think it would be great to have optical storage last forever. But then I think about my grandchildren going through my CDs years from now and stumbling on all my porn. Hmm... not good.

    --

    I always save my last mod point to mod up a good troll. You people are too serious.

    1. Re:Secrets? by Rorschach1 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, they'll probably have a good laugh about how quaint and tame early Internet porn was, having been totally desensitized at that point by full sensory immersion porn featuring the genetically engineered offspring of Goatse man and tubgirl.

  2. Maybe Not Forever by GweiLeong · · Score: 3, Funny

    Ya I really want my grandkids finding the 60 year old pr0n pix/vidz of grandma the day before we go into the home.

    1. Re:Maybe Not Forever by hesiod · · Score: 3, Funny

      Read the times of the posts. THEY WERE POSTED THE SAME FUCKING MINUTE! So he couldn't read it.

  3. I want media tied to my vital functions by ites · · Score: 4, Funny

    So that the media will destruct at the moment I die. This will save my heirs from a lot of unnecessary work and embarrasment.

    --
    Sig for sale or rent. One previous user. Inquire within.
  4. Re:Not always forever by me+at+werk · · Score: 3, Funny

    You work for Diebold?

    --
    For context, click Parent.
  5. How long? by genjo · · Score: 3, Funny

    At least until the FBI gives my servers back to me. They DO give them back, right?

  6. Data Archive Services want something different... by zoomba · · Score: 4, Funny

    If you're a business that specializes in the massive backup or translation of data from one medium to another, you probably want media to last a few years at most. That way, organizations are constantly coming to them with stores of data that they need re-recorded.

    Pretty much the only way to make your media last forever is to have it stored in a solid state (like being etched into the surface of a DVD) and then sealed and stored in a moistureless, airless, lightless temperature controlled environment. But with all the talk about self-destructing DVDs and CDs that the recording industries are trying to push, I don't think even that's possible.

    CONVERT ALL YOUR DATA INTO BINARY AND THEN LASER ETCH IT INTO GLASS! THEN SANDWICH IT BETWEEN TWO OTHER LAYERS OF GLASS AND HIDE IT ON A MOUNTAINTOP! YOU MUST SAVE YOUR PR0N COLLECTION FOR ALIENS TO DISCOVER AFTER WE'VE BLOWN OURSELVES TO ATOMS!!

    This rant was brought to you by the Reynolds Society for Tin Foil Hats... Remember, only Reynolds Wrap brand tin foil can protect you from the strongest of the alien mind-control rays!

  7. 53.3 Years by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    53.3 years... because 640 months should be enough for anyone.

  8. Re:I'll take the survey in a bit, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you really want longevity you should take your microfiche and cut the words into sheets of gold.

    I did, but this Joseph Smith guy dug them up and completely mistranslated them.

  9. Re:I'll take the survey in a bit, but... by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 3, Funny
    I want my digital media to be waiting for me...

    When I'm extracted from the CryoPod in 3056.

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."