In the county where I live they recently discovered all their old data tames are largley unreadable. The paper originals for this data are all in the landfill by now. Ultimatly, what people are going to discover is that, for all it's fraility, paper last forever - all you have to do is keep it dry and away from fire. Don't forget, it isnt the fragility of the media that should worry us, it's the speed at which this stuff becomes obsolete. Readable DVD's, CD-ROM's, whatever ain't no good fer nuttin; id the machines to read them are worn out and no parts anywhere to fix them. I have a beautiful Wollensac ytape recorder that 30 years ago was a very expensive reel-to-reel machine, the best the average person could afford. I got it at a flea market for &20, and when it stops working, it goes to the landfill, and my tapes, pristines as they are, may as well be paperweights. And, if you had a like-new collection of anything on Beta, how would you play them back? Yet, I can remember a time when Beta machines were everywhere. We don't need durale media, we need machine standards that will not change from decade to decade, or better yet, century to century. But, that is totally unreasonable. Anybody got any ideas? And, anybody got an ol Wollensca I can use for parts? I love those old Stan Kenton tapes !......
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In the county where I live they recently discovered all their old data tames are largley unreadable. The paper originals for this data are all in the landfill by now. Ultimatly, what people are going to discover is that, for all it's fraility, paper last forever - all you have to do is keep it dry and away from fire. Don't forget, it isnt the fragility of the media that should worry us, it's the speed at which this stuff becomes obsolete. Readable DVD's, CD-ROM's, whatever ain't no good fer nuttin; id the machines to read them are worn out and no parts anywhere to fix them. I have a beautiful Wollensac ytape recorder that 30 years ago was a very expensive reel-to-reel machine, the best the average person could afford. I got it at a flea market for &20, and when it stops working, it goes to the landfill, and my tapes, pristines as they are, may as well be paperweights. And, if you had a like-new collection of anything on Beta, how would you play them back? Yet, I can remember a time when Beta machines were everywhere. We don't need durale media, we need machine standards that will not change from decade to decade, or better yet, century to century. But, that is totally unreasonable. Anybody got any ideas? And, anybody got an ol Wollensca I can use for parts? I love those old Stan Kenton tapes !......