"Neil Gould" wrote in message
link.net...

Archiving of any physical object is a challenge, as entropy is a constant.
But, beyond the physical degradation that will affect digital media as
well as film, you have many other factors. Obsolescence of the media,
obsolescence of the media's format (8" floppies are less than 30 years
old), and obsolescence of the data format also work against reliable
archiving with digital media.


Didn't we all think that digital images would be archival, when digital
first came out? Kodak's website pointed out that their Photo CD's had an
expected life of 100 years--and that one would be able to copy that CD in
100 years and have a clone that would last yet ANOTHER 100 years . . . ad
infinitum.

I have been reading that PhotoCd that Kodak developed has now been
discontinued. The proprietary ImagePac format has fallen into disuse, in
favor of TIF. It seems to be only a matter of time before editing software
will no longer support reading ImagePac formatted files.

THE longest-lasting archival system still appears to be good old Microfilm!
Properly stored, it has a life in excess of 500 years. It requires nothing
other than a light source and a magnifying lens to read it. Its contents
will never become unreadable because of file format or media obsolescence.
How ironic!