OK, I'd better explain Steve's heading there. One of my corporate names is
EFREM Productions, and it used to appear on my e-mail address..I removed it a
couple of years ago. The name was the successor to Nichevo (which still appears
on some old CDs, particularly the ones produced by Intersound). EFREM stands
for Every F***ing Record Ever Made, which is what my basement looked like the
day I was searching for a new corporate identity.
dl
Steven C. Barr(x) wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Karl Miller" <[log in to unmask]>
>> ***Of course, in considerations of "what ought to be preserved," I tend to be
> on one extreme...meaning that were I in charge of archival decisions my position
> would be "Save it all...SOMEDAY someone might need it!"
>> Fine, but where are you going to put it all?
>>
> As it happens, our rapidly-improving technology, along with the (so far)
> reliability of "Moore's Law," seems to be answering that problem (except
> for preserving the originals, if they aren't/weren't digital...!). When
> I first encountered digital technology (an 80286-powered home computer)
> about 18 years ago, it cost me almost $300 to improve the standard 40MB
> hard disk to 65MB. Needless to say, I figured I'd NEVER fill that much
> space...but once I started creating dBASE III+ files, I quickly found
> myself running out of room! At that time, "floppies" were either 5.25"
> 1.2MB, or (just appearing) 3.5" 1.44MB discs which DIDN'T "flop"
> very much!
>
> Now...just short of one human "generation" later...we can buy 1TB(!)
> hard drives, and as well store data on dual-layer DVD's (about 9GB).
> Agreed, digital storage methods are hardly "carved in stone" (albeit
> that may, in fact, be correct, as XXI-Jahrhundert pollution renders
> old tombstones illegible...?!)...but, since a 1TB drive can store
> 1,099,511,627,776 ASCII characters (I don't know how that translates
> into pages?) it'll hold a LOT of information!
>
> In fact, assuming we use .wav files (about 10MB/3-minute song...?),
> storing the (my estimate) 3 million phonorecords (6 million sides)
> we would need an array of a little less than 58 of those 1TB drives
> to archive EVERY 78rpm recording EVER made...
>
> Steven C. Barr
>
>
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