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Stored Data to Exceed 1.8 Zettabytes by 2011
jcatcw writes "By 2011, there will be 1.8 zettabytes of electronic data stored in 20 quadrillion files, packets or other containers because of, among other things, the massive growth rate of social networks, and digital equipment such as cameras, cell phones and televisions, according to
a new study by IDC. Data is growing by a factor of 10 every five years. According to John Gantz, IDC's lead analyst, "at some point in the life of every file, or bit or packet, 85% of that information somewhere goes through a corporate computer, website, network or asset," meaning any given corporation becomes responsible for protecting large amounts of data that it and its customers may not have created. The study, which coincided with the launch of a "
digital footprint" calculator, also found that as the world changes over to digital televisions, analog sets and obsolete set-top boxes and DVDs "will be heaped on the waste piles, which will double by 2011.""
Porn
"as the world changes over to digital televisions, analog sets and obsolete set-top boxes and DVDs"
That's what I plan on doing. I'm going to throw out all my DVDs and buy the Blu-Ray equivalent.
Or maybe I'll just keep the DVDs (and the player) and buy whatever cable adapters I need to get them working on these newfangled devices.
If, like the summary (but not the article for some reason) states, total data is growing by a factor of 10 every 5 years, then somewhere around the year 2300 we'll have 10^80 bits stored. The number of elementary particles in the known universe is estimated to be between 10^79 and 10^81. Seems we're kind of screwed at that point.
Is that half of it will be copies of Windows Vista, XP, a few hundred Linux distro's.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
(1.8 zettabytes) / 20 quadrillion = 103.762935 kilobytes
Not that much per file really
...how many gigaquads is that?
Since we're talking very large orders of magnitude it would help to know what definition of zetabyte they're using.
2^50 bytes or 10^15 bytes?
The former is astronomically larger.
Could everyone please stop posting stories about how much data there will be saved on earth in such-and-such a year? Firstly, it's pure speculation/estimation, secondly, who really cares? Most of it is cached google pages and pron anyway...
I was wondering if they weren't a bit wrong in their calculations. A Zettabyte is 1 Million Petabytes. Knowing that where I work has about 2 petabytes in a few SAN's and there are 1000's of larger institutions and millions that are smaller (that store in the terabytes range) around the world. The place I worked before had about a half a petabyte just in tape backups for credit card and other transactions, catalog and pricing information, images etc. and that was just an average clothing company, hardly rivaling JCPenney or Macy's. I'm also thinking about Wal-Mart with millions of products and thousands of stores. And we're just talking about SAN's here mainly in the US, not including desktops, laptops, camera's, personal information, Google.
On another note, how much does a zettabyte actually yield these days, drive manufacturers might just give you 700 Petabytes for it. Oblig. XKCD: http://xkcd.org/394/
Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
How long can it grow by a factor of 10 every 5 years until we hit some fundamental limit?
1,800 exabytes of raw data. Anyone like to guess how much of this will be useful data! Judging by some system specifications I have read 5% is being generous. A twenty page specification can be condensed to a single page of useful information, and over half is "boilerplate" disclaimers, etc. which are the same in all the company's specifications.
Somebody is going to discover that our brains are much more capable of storing infinitely large amounts of information.
Yes, there is a lot of data in the world. But is there really that much more information out there? A zillion copies of the same song just means more data, not more information.
A-Bomb
don't worry, we can mine landfills and recycle the plastic out of them at some point. After all, the plastic isn't going anywhere, and we're only going to get more technologically advanced, so at *some* point, surely this will make sense!
stuff |
Photoshop was 22,000 files last time I checked. ...and I know people who think that's cool.
No sig today...
and 98% of it we could get rid of due to it being ads, spam, and files from employees that are over 15 years old and/or are not relevant to the business.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
[Fry stands up and raises his hand.]
FRY: One jillion dollars.
[The bidders gasp in shock.]
AUCTIONEER: Sir, that's not a number.
[The bidders gasp again.]
FAQs are evil.
.....Is Austin Powers behind this recent post?
Sounds like a fraternity thing.
Inventor of the LOLbalrog meme.
We're gonna need more SI prefixes.
Does this article take into account zip file contents, zips of zips, cabs, zips of cabs, files within .iso etc. -- all the files within files within files? If so, how?
I come here for the love
...640k ought to be enough for everyone.
How many of those files are duplicates?
They are almost the same.
log(2^50) = 50 log 2 = 15.0515
log (10^15) = 15 log 10 = 15
Approximately the same size, and definitely not "astronomically larger".
There are lots of people who kept their VCR and tape collection after they bought a DVD player. Why do so many "experts" assume that when a technology becomes outdated that it's immediately thrown away? I suspect that analog TVs and DVD players will hang around until they finally break, much like the current generation of HD platforms.
So I used their digital foot print calc, it told me mine was 4.5 gigabytes. A little on the low side I'd say, I have 1.1 TB of HDD sitting right next to me.
Yes, extra resolution is a wonderful thing. IF you can see it.
Lousy upscaled DVD to lousy 1080p gives you lots more lousy pixels and a nice, reassuring feeling. Look how sharp the artificial edges of the overblown sharpening settings are now! Look how you can really get a sense of the edge of the large area that's lost in the shadows. Look how black that giant smudge is!
Or a properly calibrated set showing a DVD at its best will suddenly bring a ton of subtle detail out of the shadows, out of the blown out highlights. That mass of red cloth suddenly gains subtle variations that show the stitching, etc.
Given a choice between upping 50 near uniform red pixels to 300 near uniform red pixels or 50 near uniform red pixels to 50 beautifully varying ones, I'll always choose the latter.
So, yes, 1080p is always going to beat upscaled DVD on the same setup. But a good set, properly calibrated, vs. the majority of crap that's out there, is also always going to be a bigger improvement still.
If you have the money, get the 120hz 1080p set that's at the top of everyone's line. Plug in BluRay, marvel at the whole experience.
If you don't have the money and you have to compromise somewhere, you'll be better served by putting the price of the $500 BluRay player in to a better picture (note: I said better, not bigger) and the Avia Home Theater calibration DVD. You'll get a far bigger improvement from upconverting regular DVDs on a great set than you will from displaying a high definition source through crap.
Besides, three movies later at current costs, you'll have saved so much by buying regular DVDs, you can now buy that BluRay player anyway - and now it'll be plugged in to a great display.
I bet that at least 92% of that data is a duplicate from another source. Would be nice to see how much of it is pirated content :-).
Okay, now that you asked, that was my plan: 1. Collect massive amounts of umm, let's just call it "data", hehe 2. Seed the peak data myth 3. Data prices skyrocket 4. Profit! See, no "???" here!
The parent post could be many things, maybe even funny, but it is definitely not insightful.
occultae nullus est respectus musicae - originally a Greek proverb
A zettabyte is 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes, or 10 to the 21st power.
--Does this include data stored in landfills?
Okay. Silly article. Moving on now.
-FL
1.8 zettabytes? Man, I'm surprised they haven't renamed it the fapternet.
Well apparently some of the tubes are not tubes at all, but big bit buckets! Here's some more!
to frustrate grandparent.
DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!