Well I don't think we are dealing with the need to keep these records for eternity, at the hospital we had to keep them for 12 years I think? At the financial institution receipts are less than a year. More important documentation is stored I think upwards of 10-15 years. So while you are right with the integrity of electronic media not lasting as long as paper in the grand scheme of things (20, 30, 40 years) I think a lot of the more tempory stuff can just rot away on a tape in a vault fairly safely. You'll have your freak lightbulb accidents, but as often as that happens you could have a storage fire at your paper warehouse.
Even those circumstances are heading out the door though. I previously worked in a hospital where a lot of the doctors were paying a ton of money to get their offices converted to electronic medical records so they didn't have to deal with that paper trail. I currently work in a financial institution where receipts and loan apps etc are slowly all becoming digital. It's only a matter of time.... it may be 20 years, but it's still only a matter of time.
I'm certless with 2 years of college and no degree, and 4.5 years of IT experience. I've worked in call centers, then moved to a IT role in a hospital, and now i'm in "network support" although most of my work is Citrix related. If I get any certs I think I may actually go the citrix route, just because its a bit more specialized. I make decent money considering the small town I live in, this is a debate that has been around since the inception of certs... and I dont think there is a great answer.
If you can get them they definately aren't going to hurt anything, but I wouldn't consider certs an alternative to college, and I wouldn't consider college an alternative to certs.
But if someone explains that this planetary warming is "normal" how is Al Gore going to make a sequel to his critically acclaimed film debut.
Well I don't think we are dealing with the need to keep these records for eternity, at the hospital we had to keep them for 12 years I think? At the financial institution receipts are less than a year. More important documentation is stored I think upwards of 10-15 years. So while you are right with the integrity of electronic media not lasting as long as paper in the grand scheme of things (20, 30, 40 years) I think a lot of the more tempory stuff can just rot away on a tape in a vault fairly safely. You'll have your freak lightbulb accidents, but as often as that happens you could have a storage fire at your paper warehouse.
Even those circumstances are heading out the door though. I previously worked in a hospital where a lot of the doctors were paying a ton of money to get their offices converted to electronic medical records so they didn't have to deal with that paper trail. I currently work in a financial institution where receipts and loan apps etc are slowly all becoming digital. It's only a matter of time.... it may be 20 years, but it's still only a matter of time.
Yea, but if we do that where are we going to get our oil?
Psh the land rover is probably glad to be photographing anything, he was supposed to only live for 3 months.
I'm certless with 2 years of college and no degree, and 4.5 years of IT experience. I've worked in call centers, then moved to a IT role in a hospital, and now i'm in "network support" although most of my work is Citrix related. If I get any certs I think I may actually go the citrix route, just because its a bit more specialized. I make decent money considering the small town I live in, this is a debate that has been around since the inception of certs... and I dont think there is a great answer. If you can get them they definately aren't going to hurt anything, but I wouldn't consider certs an alternative to college, and I wouldn't consider college an alternative to certs.