The digital afterlife would be a lot shorter than this life. Take a look at the first CDs, or try to access what's on an early computer. Things fall apart....
Sam - yes, the rapid evolution of our digital world shouldn't lead us to forget its impermanence. The hardware becomes obsolete almost as soon as we've adopted it.
The most permanent human records are painted on cave walls, cuneiformed into clay blocks and written on papyrus. After that comes parchment. What will eventually be the longest lasting is the gold disc on each of the Voyager space craft. Will anyone/thing ever read them? The Mini Disc came and went in the flash of an eye. How many people now know what the little symbol for "SAVE" at the top of a computer screen represents?
Doonhamer - the Mini Disc came and went so quickly that I never used it. Our grandkids won't know what the "SAVE" symbol is supposed to be and possibly aren't too clear about the idea of saving to local hardware.
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Excellent.
ReplyDeleteThe digital afterlife would be a lot shorter than this life. Take a look at the first CDs, or try to access what's on an early computer. Things fall apart....
Sam - yes, the rapid evolution of our digital world shouldn't lead us to forget its impermanence. The hardware becomes obsolete almost as soon as we've adopted it.
ReplyDeleteThe most permanent human records are painted on cave walls, cuneiformed into clay blocks and written on papyrus. After that comes parchment.
ReplyDeleteWhat will eventually be the longest lasting is the gold disc on each of the Voyager space craft. Will anyone/thing ever read them?
The Mini Disc came and went in the flash of an eye.
How many people now know what the little symbol for "SAVE" at the top of a computer screen represents?
Doonhamer - the Mini Disc came and went so quickly that I never used it. Our grandkids won't know what the "SAVE" symbol is supposed to be and possibly aren't too clear about the idea of saving to local hardware.
ReplyDelete