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Both my message and Rob's reply were meant for the list! Any comments about "eternal" archiving (for whom?), all you folkses out there in Radio-land? Steven C. Barr ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rob Poretti" <[log in to unmask]> To: "'steven c'" <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2006 8:55 AM Subject: RE: [ARSCLIST] Longevity > Hi Steven, > > Not to fear. The computer industry is very aware of the issue of > "obseletism" both in products and "standards". Over the past 10 years a set > of best practices for long term archiving have evolved, that allows for > "eternal" digital carriers and automated approaches to migrate material from > one format to the next. Many companies follow these practices now. > Awareness by the audio archiving community is increasing: at the ARSC > conference in Seattle, John Spence of BMS/Chace had an excellent paper on > the subject, and it was discussed during the ARSC Technical Committee, of > which he is part of. > > I understand that you are concerned about what might happen far in the > future, but in reality - and fortunately - time is incremental. As long as > we move to this eternal digital carrier with "open eyes" we should be easily > able hold on to our archives - barring the earth's destruction.... > > But I guess then, it wouldn't matter much! ;-) > > Cheers! > > Rob > > PS: Did you mean to email directly or was it accidental? I think other > people on the list might be interested in this type of discussion.... Your > call! > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: steven c [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > > Sent: July 13, 2006 1:26 AM > > To: [log in to unmask] > > Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Longevity > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Rob Poretti" <[log in to unmask]> > > > In that case, we'll need geographic separation of our redundant > > archives... > > > Perhaps cold storage on Mars? > > > > > > <vbg> Thanks for the levity Steven! > > > > > Well, to some extent it IS levity...but I also tried to make > > a couple relevant points! Think (if it's even possible) of > > what another hundred years of evolution in the > > digital/computer field might bring! > > > > I'm still a year and a bit short of officially being a > > "senior citizen" (born 10/22/42)...but the first "computer" I > > ever saw was an early IBM that was "programmed" by plugging > > the banana plugs on a dozen or so jumper cords into specific > > jacks...and whose main task was reading stacks of pre-sorted > > 80-column "IBM cards" and using the punched-in data to > > calculate and print premium notices for insurance > > policyholders. No "screen"...no keyboard (except on the > > keypunch machine)...just a fancy (and expensive) cross > > between a typewriter and a calculating machine. Of course, a > > decade or less earlier the premium notices would have been > > calculated and typed out by hand! > > > > Now, I'm sitting here typing e-mail on what is essentialy an > > obsolete machine (Pentium III, 256MB RAM)...which is why I > > can afford it. If I had the same data in a MS Access file, I > > could create a program whose only limitation would be the > > speed of the printing! And that is about 45 years' > > difference...in 1906 they might have been writing out the > > premium notices using fountain pens! > > > > So, what will be the capabilities in 2106? Of course, this > > assumes that Homo Sapiens haven't self-destructed and taken > > the planet with them... > > > > Steven C. Barr > > > > > >