Recently, David J. Littleboy posted:

"rafeb" wrote:

Final point. *Really* long term longevity may turn out to
be a function of the importance or value of an image, not the
original media on which it was recorded. IOW, if an image is
sufficiently important or valuable, there will be resources to
look after its safety and usability, and to transcribe it to
new media as dictated by current technology.

The longevity of film is vastly overrated. All it takes is one
cleaning rampage by one's parents and everything you shot in high
school and college is history. Or one fire, one flood, one mildewy
summer. Or picking the wrong building (e.g. the world trade center)
to store one's archive.

All media is subject to those hazards. The difference is that, even if one
is diligent and cognizant of the myriad issues around maintaining digital
data, the possibility that the data will be lost exists. Obsolescent media
is another issue, and one that has the potential to wipe out a good deal
of data, again without negligence or mishaps as a factor.

Regards,

Neil