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We're really in the same position we were twenty-five years ago--do we stay
with 8" floppies or move to the new 5 1/4" floppies. Of course, no one
thought of the 3 1/2" floppies that eventually won out--for a while. The
longevity of your media is less important than the longevity of your
hardware and software; any one know where I can find someone who can read 8"
hard formatted Processor Technology floppies?
Look at archival storage as an ongoing process. Every few years you're going
to have to re-record it on new equipment with new software on new media. One
prime example of this is in genealogy where records were painstakingly
microfilmed and then the originals destroyed. The best of the microfilm
can't touch today's technology and is unsearchable.
Bruce
==============================================
Bruce Evans, M.D.
Family Physician and Technical Writer
"Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked;
leadership is defined by results not attributes."
-----Original Message-----
The CD life question is very good. Are there CURRENTLY alternatives that
might be good for long term saving? What about memory sticks and
smartcards? Is there something out there now that is valuable for long term
storage?
I totally agree that there is plenty of reason to be skeptical of CDs. I
even broke a music CD not long ago because it didn't want to pop out of the
case. I'm looking forward to new technology that is also better, bigger,
and longer lasting.
Thank You,
Kim Bourner
Technical Writer
Embrace your uniqueness. Time is much too short to be living someone else's
life. - Kobi Yamada
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