media life (was Re:When will the persecution of MS *end*?!)

[Henry Spencer]

I wrote:
> Brace yourself:  the shelf life of a burned CD-R or CD-RW is likewise
> uncertain...

Oh yes, and I meant to add:  and then there's the question of whether you
will still have a *reader* for those media ten or twenty years from now. 

Eleven years ago, I had to make a point of specifying that my 3.5in floppy
should be drive A on my new machine.  Now, good luck trying to find a
5.25in floppy drive at all.  And the days of 3.5in floppies are (finally)
numbered, with USB flash drives likely to kill them soon. 

Another reason to regularly recopy something you want to save permanently
is simply to get it onto modern media.

                                                          Henry Spencer
                                                       henry-lqW1N6Cllo0sV2N9l4h3zg at public.gmane.org


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