As we keep changing our methods of disseminating and storing information, we are presenting opportunities for people who can transfer data from one format to another. 78 rpm records gave way to LPs which gave way to CDs which are giving way to iPods and whatever else. Computer files went from 5.25” floppies to 3.5” floppies to all the various drives and sticks and cards we have these days. VHS beat out Beta but is losing [has lost?] to DVD and TiVo. Web sites come and go and get changed without notice while printed paper is disappearing. [The DPP and StarJournal (and) Tribune have printed archives which one can imagine being read four hundred years from now, but does MinnPost? Or even the newspapers for their digital-only stuff?]
You hear every year about some high school someplace which has decided to replace the yearbook with a DVD. But as they prepare for their twentieth [or even tenth] reunion will anybody have the equipment to open it?
Historians study the correspondence of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. They have been kept. What will happen to the emails between W and his father?
A MinnPost article today by Matt Ehling calls some of these problems to us. He reminds us to print everything. I haven’t printed much of what goes here and haven’t maintained the printouts much anyway, but it does give something to think about.
Of course, why would I think that future eras would be interested in what so few are interested at present?
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