Comments on: Microfilm has a future?

By: Kirk

Kirk — Fri, 03 Aug 2018 04:14:00 +0000

In the long run, everything is prone to deterioration and decay. Witness the efforts we’re going to, when trying to read the carbonized remains of Roman scrolls preserved in Pompeii and Herculaneum.

What would be interesting would be to pause and think about how one might best preserve data over the truly long haul: My suspicion is that you might be wanting to look around the natural environment, and take note of which species have been around the longest, unchanged since ancient times, and who have an abundance of genetic information. One might want to ask the question “Why would a plant or animal species be hauling around this much genetic deadweight, in terms of information, and not use it…?”. From there, you could identify things you might want to take a long, hard look at with regards to figuring out why the hell something like that would last, and what might possibly be encoded in their genome besides instructions on how to make a lungfish or flowering plant…

Frankly, if I were looking to record for posterity, and I were a master of biological sciences, I might just code my data into something that I also “froze” genetically, so that changes would be minimized down the ages.

Just suggestin’…

By: Wang Wei Lin

Wang Wei Lin — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 22:01:23 +0000

A hard copy is the only viable archiving technique for long timeframes. If all you need is a magnifying glass then all later societies regardless of advancement will be able to access the record. As proof the Oracle Bones of China have lasted 1000s of years. Now that’s low tech.

By: Mike in Boston

Mike in Boston — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 15:42:21 +0000

"If the data is written as images, the only equipment needed to read it is a good microscope." That's a lot more appealing than needing to rely on microfilm readers. The Rosetta Disk strikes me as sort of a gimmick, but the underlying "HD-Rosetta" technology is certainly impressive.

By: Candide III

Candide III — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 13:26:17 +0000

Several companies are developing a sort of microfilm based on fused silica glass. If the data is written as images, the only equipment needed to read it is a good microscope. The data is estimated to last >100 million years and the density per cubic inch is about the same as a DVD.