Re: Data preservation (was: Re: Is ProDOS supported in OSX?)

[Don Bruder <dakidd@sonic.net>]

In article <20030624024403.09942.00000908@mb-m26.aol.com>,
 mjmahon@aol.com (Michael J. Mahon) wrote:

> Scott Alfter wrote:
> 
> <snip>
> 
> >As for other people/organizations and their data, if it's a sufficiently
> >large amount (like all those 9-track tapes that NASA has accumulated), it
> >isn't always feasible to keep migrating the data to newer formats. 
> 
> I've thought a bit about this...   If there is any desire to keep the data
> in usable form, then it is necessary to copy it periodically.  This would
> be true even if it were to be copied to new 9-track tapes!
> 
> There are really only two choices:  continuously copy the data to new
> media, or kiss it off as lost forever.

<snip for brevity - For the record, I agree with every word>

> "What fools these mortals be."

Precisely my point when I mentioned the "Boston" tapes. Tape (any 
magnetic media, really) is "use it or lose it" media. If you don't make 
a fresh copy now and again, the old one WILL degrade to unusability over 
time, if only from simple "physically falling apart".

-- 
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