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Long-Term PC Preservation Project?

Posted by timothy on from the solid-state-drives-perhaps dept.

failcomm writes "I've been talking with my son's (middle-school) computer lab teacher about a 'time capsule' project. The school has a number of 'retirement age' PCs (5-6 years old — Dells, HPs, a couple of Compaqs), and we've been kicking around the idea of trying to preserve a working system and some media (CDs and/or DVDs), and locking them away to be preserved for some period of time (say 50 years); to be opened by students of the future. The goal would be to have instructions on how to unpack the system, plug it into the wall (we'll assume everyone is still using 110v US outlets), and get the system to boot. Also provide instructions on how to load the media and see it in action; whether it is photos or video or games or even student programs — whatever. So first, is this idea crazy? Second, how would we go about packing/preserving various components? Lastly, any suggestions on how to store it long term? (Remember, this is a school project, so we can't exactly just 'freeze it in carbonite'; practical advice would be appreciated.)"

5 of 465 comments (clear)

  1. Way too many unknowns by gavron · · Score: 3, Funny

    "US Power" is not a defined term. Even if you went to the effort of saying "The two leads need to be supplied with a sine-wave alternating current peaking at 115 Volts" you have no way of knowing that in 50 years they'll be using Volts, AC, two leads, or know what a sine-wave is. I like the previous poster's suggestion of a laptop with a solar charger. Of course this makes an assumption that there will be sunlight in the right frequencies and not the bad evil sunshine frequencies. Who knows what 50 years of industrial evolution, weather changes, and clouds will bring. Heck, what if they try and start it up in Seattle and all they have is clouds? Finally, EVEN IF they did start it up, the point of a time capsule is to provide a glimpse of the past, not to ANNOY AND IRRITATE THE FUTURE. That means whatever OS you install on there is a waste. Making someone go through the tedious boot-up sequence (50 years, Moore's Law, remember?) is a waste. In short, a waste. Much better to give them code samples of your hello_world.c so they can laugh about how stuff was hard in the past. Regards E P.S. FTG!

    1. Re:Way too many unknowns by mustafap · · Score: 5, Funny

      >Basic mathematical patterns inherent in Euclidean geometry aren't going to be easily forgotten or abandoned.

      You overestimate the power of the US education system.

      --
      Open Source Drum Kit, LPLC deve board - mjhdesigns.com
    2. Re:Way too many unknowns by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Funny

      I can hear it now: "It's been three seconds and still no "desktop", whatever that is, the damn thing is broken!"

      Given what we know about human nature and trends in technology it's more likely to be "It's been three seconds and still no blowjob, are you sure this thing is a computer?"

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  2. Don't Bother by dmomo · · Score: 4, Funny

    It got damaged in a flood. Even if it hadn't it wouldn't matter. We just use this 20 year old time machine invented in 2039 to come back for our retro-gaming fix. It's a clunker compared to the new time machines, but it was cheap. Actually, probably cheaper than your P4 uses... AND it uses less power.

    We actually save power by going back in time and using the past's power anyway. The future is AWESOME. Come join us soon!

  3. Re:I've thought about this by KeithJM · · Score: 5, Funny

    Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

    So you're worried that if we don't do this someone 50 years from now will install Windows ME?