This is just an aside that seems relevant; it's an item
from the July 2000 issue of newsletter I publish at the
URL in the sig below, which is reportedly being archived
somewhere, somehow, by somebody who undoubtedly preserves
the material better than I do. I'm not an archivist, but
am much intrigued by the problems of saving the stuff
people produce in digital media.

> Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is producing an "Oral History of MITS"
>(MITS being the little Albuquerque company that produced the first
>personal computer back in the mid-1970's), and a 5-man crew came to >town the
other day to interview people. They spent a couple of hours
>provoking me to tell stories and express opinions about those far off
>days. Astonishingly, they recorded everything on 16mm film. What? Not
>DV? Nope, old-fashioned cellulose acetate film.

> Archivist Luba Zakharoff explained patiently that experience
>demonstrates that such film can be preserved for at least fifty years.
>We have no evidence that any of the digital recording media will last
>as long, and this is history being preserved. They'll scan the stuff,
>edit, and release material in digital form, but the original material
>is for keeps. Luba would presumably have the pictures and sound etched
>n stainless steel tape if she had the equipment. Gee.


It's nice that this list has come to life interestingly.

--Nels Winkless
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Nelson Winkless Consultant/Writer correspo@...
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