[Publius6961]

This is no great surprise, or shouldn't be.

There have been extensive discussions in the last few years arguing that the only reliable archival medium is acid-free paper.

Think about it. How many reading this can read 5-1/4 inch floppies? Anyone?
Technology "advances", and all prior means of accessing archived data disappears, with no means or even thought of recovering the trillions bits of data sitting in warehouses rotting.

I remember clearly that most if not all of the data related to the space studies and research of the 50s and 60s already is gone forever.

What is remarkable is that little or no solution has been proposed to this very real problem.

It will be a profound irony when we find ourselves able to view photos from the 1900s more readily than digital images being "archived" today.

[Publius6961]

BUMP!

[FreedomPoster]

>>5-1/4 inch floppies? Anyone?

5-1/4 inch floppies? How about 9-track tapes!

[RadioAstronomer]

Think about it. How many reading this can read 5-1/4 inch floppies? Anyone?

I can. :-)

I can even read 8" floppies and teletype punch tape still. :-)

[Leroy S. Mort]

How many reading this can read 5-1/4 inch floppies? Anyone?

Sure..I've got a 3 1/2 - 5 1/4 combo floppy drive on one of my machines here just for that purpose. Gotta love all those VisiCalc spreadsheets and WordStar docs.

[BushCountry]

There have been extensive discussions in the last few years arguing that the only reliable archival medium is acid-free paper.

I am for micro-etching print (data) using lasers on metal or a hard plastic that will last for a million years.

[templar]

There have been extensive discussions in the last few years arguing that the only reliable archival medium is acid-free paper.

The problem is that a lot of what we are storing in now digital in nature. It just doesn't lend itself to any meaninfull paper storage. Maybe we ought to go back to the old style of recording, but on titanium instead of vinyl for important stuff. Edison records still play just fine.

[SC Swamp Fox]

How many reading this can read 5-1/4 inch floppies? Anyone?

I have a 486-66 machine that is still functional. Has 3.5" and 5.25" drives. It didn't come with the 5.25", I had to install it when I needed to use some old software about 6 years ago. I have a functional (I think) punched tape reader in storage.

[Texas_Jarhead]

"How many reading this can read 5-1/4 inch floppies? Anyone?"

One of my PCs still has a 5-1/4" floppy. hehe

[snopercod]

As you probably know, NASA commissioned oil paintings of famous scenes in space, since the lifetime of Kodachrome film is unknown. We know that oil paintings can last for many centuries.

[Paulus Invictus]

Color film may last much longer than CDs, video tape and audio tape recordings, especially if stored correctly. We found video and audio tapes that lost their recorded material in ten years or even less. However, all color film and prints invariably fade over time as the dyes deteriorate. Black and white film and prints last even longer as they are based upon silver compounds that do not easily fade (unless they were poorly "fixed" in the processing). If color or black and white film negatives or prints are stored in a freezer, they last much longer.

There is a profitable business in California that recovers "lost" movies from the past by reconstituting each frame of faded film negatives or prints and making them like new.

[MarkL]

How many reading this can read 5-1/4 inch floppies? Anyone?

I do! I do!!!

I've got a few Teac combo 1.2MB/1.44MB drives just for that purpose. Plus, somewhere in the basement, I've got an 8" SSSD floppy drive! Gotta love it! CPM-80! If you can't do it in 64K and 8 bits, it doesn't need to get done!

Mark

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Think about it. How many reading this can read 5-1/4 inch floppies? Anyone?

I have a working 486 stored in my basement that will do it - its only been there 6 months.

[CobaltBlue]

I still have one of the machines that can read the 5 1/4 floppies - the guys use it to play old DOS games on. I think it's got Windows 3.1 as well. They're kinda fanatical about games, even have an Atari 7600 but that's broken.

[gd124]

[i] Think about it. How many reading this can read 5-1/4 inch floppies? Anyone?[/i][p]

I still have a working 5 1/4 inch drive which I can stick in if I needed to.