What does “fossil word” mean?
Footage is a fossil, an old description that does not jibe with modern day tech. There is no footage on a hard drive.
We see the same thing with fossil words ‘tape’ and ‘film’ when what’s being discussed is video.
It’s a word that was based on something real, something physical but no longer is.
Here for example, footage refers to film. But the video is surely not film, but they still call it footage.
Same with tape. People will say they used their cell phone to tape something. But their is no tape involved anymore.