On Tue, 28 Mar 2023, Chuck Guzis via cctalk wrote:
The shipment that was being returned via Fedex, was, in fact 70 8 inch
diskettes, ca. 1983--all read just fine.
I guess that's a concern for our current removable media, be it Blu-ray
DVD, USB pen drive, microSD card, or cloud. I wonder how much of that
will still be accessible after 40 years. Or if it will matter...
Technologically, it seems possible to make media that will last a while.
Verbatim claims 100 years for their MDISC BluRry. But, obviously, that is
an extrapolation, and never tested with real world experience.
But, will it be possible to convince managers to spend $20 per disc, when
discs are available for a dollar or two, with an expected life of 1 to 5
years?
When I was at NASA half a century ago, some of us brought up the
possibility of inconveniences that would eventually result from using two
decimal digits for the year in everything. We were told that nothing
that we did would matter in 30 years. But, I heard that they eventually
were looking for people to patch GLSP (Generalized Least Squares Program
(FORTRAN))
In 40 years, the disks will be in the hands of antiquarians, who collect,
but would never uncork, valuables.
--
Grumpy Ol' Fred ci...@xenosoft.com
