Submission + - Knowledge lost when old files no longer readable
Keith_Beef writes: "According to an article on the BBC News website (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6265976.stm ), there is a real risk of knowledge being lost when computer systems are no longer capable of reading older file formats.
In the wider view, this would be true of not only the file formats, but of the physical media themselves. Who now has an 8" floppy drive to hand? How long before nobody knows what an Exabyte cartridge is? And in a couple of decades, maybe CD-ROM and even DVD-ROM will dissappear as Blu-Ray, HD-DVD or some other technology (like holo-diamonds) become affordable.
From the article:
Natalie Ceeney said society faced the possibility of "losing years of critical knowledge" because modern PCs could not always open old file formats.
She was speaking at the launch of a partnership with Microsoft to ensure the Archives could read old formats.
Microsoft's UK head Gordon Frazer warned of a looming "digital dark age".
So of course, rather than look for Free Software to solve the problem in an open, honest way, Ceeney has done the typical UK Gov't dance to Microsoft's tune."
In the wider view, this would be true of not only the file formats, but of the physical media themselves. Who now has an 8" floppy drive to hand? How long before nobody knows what an Exabyte cartridge is? And in a couple of decades, maybe CD-ROM and even DVD-ROM will dissappear as Blu-Ray, HD-DVD or some other technology (like holo-diamonds) become affordable.
From the article:
Natalie Ceeney said society faced the possibility of "losing years of critical knowledge" because modern PCs could not always open old file formats.
She was speaking at the launch of a partnership with Microsoft to ensure the Archives could read old formats.
Microsoft's UK head Gordon Frazer warned of a looming "digital dark age".
So of course, rather than look for Free Software to solve the problem in an open, honest way, Ceeney has done the typical UK Gov't dance to Microsoft's tune."