On 2010-10-23, Gunner Asch wrote:
On Fri, 22 Oct 2010 17:45:27 -0800, Jon Anderson
wrote:

[ ... ]

And you bring up a really good point about digital libraries. Printed
books can be handed down through several generations or more if cared for.


[ ... ]

So can Ebook formats, if you save them on DVDs/CDs and so forth..or
preferably..a USB hard drive that you refresh every 4-5 yrs

And give your DRM code in your last will and testiment...G

That can preserve the data -- but how long will there be
compatible eBook readers to use those formats? There is a lot of
computer media which can't be read which is less than 50 years old.

How many of you have the ability to read punched tape formats?
(Let's see -- the common ones are 5-level Baudot, and 8-level ASCII
punched tape (from Teletypes and the like), but there are also other bit
codes which used the 8-level punched tape, such as the Freiden
Flexowriter (Sort of an 8-bit version of EBCDIC, but with shift-up and
shift-down codes needed)

And how many people have the equipment to play 78 RPM records
these days? (Let alone Edison cylinder recordings?)

And if you do -- how long will the sylus last on your turntable?

How many have reel-to-reel magnetic tape recorders?

How about wire recorders?

Amy movies in Beta format?

How about the large video disk format?

There are amazing collections of media which are no longer
readable in a practical sense.

For that matter -- how long will CD and DVD recorders be
available?

How many still have 5-1/4" floppy drives on their computers?
(3-1/2" ones are fading away too, and what about 8" ones? I still have
those, but I would have to work to restart the machines which use the 8"
floppys.

However -- print still works, as long as you have light (and
know how to read, of course). :-)

Enjoy,
DoN.

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