On 4/25/2011 8:28 AM Higgs Boson spake thus:

On Apr 24, 2:12 pm, David Nebenzahl wrote:

On 4/24/2011 4:34 AM aemeijers spake thus:

Of course, for really important stuff, no electronic media yet
beats hardcopy, printed or etched on something that won't turn to
dust in 20 years, and stored in a controlled environment.

Yes. The value of printed documentation is highly underrated.

Helpful post, thanks.

Should "printed documentation" of value be on acid-free paper?
Inquiring minds...

If it's really that valuable, I suppose so.

I've got newsprint (saved newspaper article clippings) from the 1980s
that are still in excellent condition, and I'd expect them to last, oh,
probably centuries, unless they somehow got wet and stayed wet. So I
wouldn't sweat it.

You've heard about that guy who discovered just how long paper lasts in
landfills? The "garbologist" who excavated paper that had been buried in
landfills decades prior. In most cases, the papers could still be easily
read. Stuff lasts a long time.


--
The current state of literacy in our advanced civilization:

yo
wassup
nuttin
wan2 hang
k
where
here
k
l8tr
by

- from Usenet (what's *that*?)

"Ron" wrote in message
...

I still like the dvds for the important stuff. Guess that I am one of
those that make several backups.

Anyone done any studies on HOW LONG a home-burned DVD will last?
I burned some CD-Roms,and they didn't last more than a couple of years
and
then were unreadable.

CDs? I've got music on CDs that I made back in '99 from Napster that
still play just fine.

I too have ten or fifteen year old CDs I burned that work just fine. But
cheaper CD-Rs do seem to fail more often than good ones, so if I'm burning
something important I use made-in-Japan Taiyo Yuden or Fuji. However when
it's something important then multiple backups are highly recommended.

In article m,
David Nebenzahl wrote:

You've heard about that guy who discovered just how long paper lasts in
landfills? The "garbologist" who excavated paper that had been buried in
landfills decades prior. In most cases, the papers could still be easily
read. Stuff lasts a long time.

In a few thousand years will they be talking about the Dead Sea CDs
(grin)

--
"Even I realized that money was to politicians what the ecalyptus tree is to koala bears: food, water, shelter and something to crap on."
---PJ O'Rourke

That's funny. Funny, but true. Might be more likely
Washington DC dead CD. Or from a bank in NYC? I've heard
that landfills in Arizona are nearly eternal, it's so dry. I
wonder if some one will dig up Chicago mobsters' machine
guns and go back into mobster business?

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Kurt Ullman" wrote in message
m...


You've heard about that guy who discovered just how long
paper lasts in
landfills? The "garbologist" who excavated paper that had
been buried in
landfills decades prior. In most cases, the papers could
still be easily
read. Stuff lasts a long time.

In a few thousand years will they be talking about the Dead
Sea CDs
(grin)

In article ,
The Daring Dufas wrote:

I wonder if someone or some international
group can come up with a standard archival media that will stay in
use for a century or more?

I have a book printed in 1677, and it's quite readable.

On 4/26/2011 2:24 AM Smitty Two spake thus:

In article ,
The Daring Dufas wrote:

I wonder if someone or some international
group can come up with a standard archival media that will stay in
use for a century or more?

I have a book printed in 1677, and it's quite readable.

Do you mean you have the actual physical book printed then?

If so, that's amazing to me. Yes, I know such things exist. It's just
that I've never actually seen or touched one. What is it, if you don't
mind my asking?

Yes, print is an even more highly underrated medium nowadays, especially
with literacy becoming a dying capability among humanoids.


--
The current state of literacy in our advanced civilization:

yo
wassup
nuttin
wan2 hang
k
where
here
k
l8tr
by

- from Usenet (what's *that*?)

David Nebenzahl wrote:
On 4/26/2011 2:24 AM Smitty Two spake thus:

In article ,
The Daring Dufas wrote:

I wonder if someone or some international
group can come up with a standard archival media that will stay in
use for a century or more?

I have a book printed in 1677, and it's quite readable.

Do you mean you have the actual physical book printed then?

If so, that's amazing to me. Yes, I know such things exist. It's just
that I've never actually seen or touched one. What is it, if you don't
mind my asking?


One showed up in Salt Lake City recently. "The Nuremberg Chronicle", printed
in 1493 and heralded as the SECOND book printed with moveable type (after
the Gutenberg Bible).

http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/120665549.html

They're out there.

I've personally held in my hands the original, hand-written, manuscrips of
Edgar Allen Poe, O'Henry, and others. Browsed through illustrated,
manuscript Bibles created long before Gutenberg, and other other "rare"
works. That's what you get when you attend a "University of the First
Class." That, and panty-raids.

Makes for a well-rounded education.

In article ,
David Nebenzahl wrote:

On 4/26/2011 2:24 AM Smitty Two spake thus:

In article ,
The Daring Dufas wrote:

I wonder if someone or some international
group can come up with a standard archival media that will stay in
use for a century or more?

I have a book printed in 1677, and it's quite readable.

Do you mean you have the actual physical book printed then?

If so, that's amazing to me. Yes, I know such things exist. It's just
that I've never actually seen or touched one. What is it, if you don't
mind my asking?

Yes, print is an even more highly underrated medium nowadays, especially
with literacy becoming a dying capability among humanoids.

A devout atheist myself, I nonetheless come from a long line of men of
the cloth. I have about a dozen old family bibles that have been handed
down. The one printed 1677 is the oldest of the lot.