vinceJan 3, 2023

PSA: take some time in 2023 to back up your/your family's CD-Rs (and other recordable media) full of memories you threw into storage 10+ years ago; there's a decent chance they've started to rot!

the tenuously thin layer of dyes/adhesives holding the data *will* break down over time, rapidly so if their environment is uncontrolled, the surface was previously nicked/contaminated, or they were cheap ones to begin with

Show threadelizabeth veldonJan 4, 2023
@0x56 in the long run paper backup is the best option as tech changes over time and formats die out.
Show threadvince
@elizabethveldon it's hard for me to imagine a future where the data is accessible but the knowledge to render a JPEG or play/convert a WAV is lost. your point is valid though, and i'll be getting prints of at least a few photos significant to family that'd hopefully outlast a technological catastrophe along with the people who'd cherish them!
Jan 4, 2023 at 9:20amMastodon for iOS
Show threadelizabeth veldonJan 4, 2023
@0x56 perhaps but image formats like ILBM might have seemed permanent at one point.