Re: saving digital photographs
hdv@jadev.org (J.A. de Vries) writes:
> Hi Russell,
>
> While I do agree with most of what you wrote I'd not be so quick in
> dismissing floppies, nor tape for that matter.
>
>> (An Example: Does anyone remember the 8-inch floppy, which came in both
>> single- and double-side versions, and in both single- and double-density
>> variations? And does anyone still have running a system which can read
>> these floppies? And are 20-year-old floppies still readable, or has the
>> binder for the magnetic oxide turned to gum?)
>
> Just to pick up that glove you threw I got my oldest floppies from
> storage (I keep them and their contents just for sentimental value, all
> data has been copied to backup media years ago) and put them in the FDD
> to see if they would be "A-OK". They were. These were both 5 1/4 and 3
> 1/2 inch floppies. I must admit to having been quite careful with them
> over the years but they are from 1986 and later, so to answer your
> question: yes those floppies are still usable.
>
> You'd have to be a fossil just like me to even want to, but the fact
> still remains that these floppies are perfectly fine after 20 years. So
> are tapes (I know of tapes even older than that which are still in use).
> To me tape is still *the* most reliable medium for long term storage
> (not the most convenient though!).
While I did mention the oxide, the remarks which you cite had to do
primarily with obsolescence of the technology. I have 8-inch floppies
(SSSD and DSDD) with data which I would like to retrieve, but unless I
find someone who still is running an old DEC LSI-11 or PDP-11 system,
the data is inaccessible.
With tape, much depends upon storage conditions. In some cases, the old
9-track digital tapes have proven reliable, but in the audio realm much
material has been lost because of chemical failure of the binder in
tapes which are twenty or more years old. The failure involves some of
the most reputable manufacturers and some of the most expensive analogue
recording tape stock; it has become a major problem in the recording
industry.
Even with tapes stored at constant temperature and humidity, radio
stations and recording studios have been forced to resort to the
low-temperature baking of tapes (a fruit dehydrator reportedly works
well) in order to stabilize the binder so that the sound may be
retrieved and archived to other media. Prior to baking, the binder is
soft and gummy, and rubs off on the heads of the tape recorder.
In another post I address the matter of media quality as the function of
intended application, and the problem of decrease in quality as the price of
media falls.
RLH
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