Quote Originally Posted by joebloggs View Post
oh i've burn't all the photos and cam recordings onto dvds for last few years, thou i'm thinking of getting about a 500gb hdd to copy them all onto, as i've dug out some old data cds from maybe 7yrs ago, the cd coating on the top have faded a bit,even thou they been in a box in the dark , and most of my pc's couldn't read them any more, they are also fairly brittle, 75yr life span
so don't count on being able to read your cds/dvd's in a few years

the only thing i lost were a few docs i didnt really need, i deleted them thinking i had backed them up

Glad you sorted it as you say sometimes a blessing as you reduce the clutter. I have so many files i keep just in case..

Im sure you could get some well made and cared for disks to 75 years in a workable state. Problem would thne be finding a device to read them.

As mentioned before any one got a bbc b laser disk to read the doomsday disks made back in the 80's


If you went back 75 years the various media formats that have been and gone would be huge.

Dat, was it philips digital casste, mini disk, analogue cassette, 8 track, wax cylinder, sinclair microdrive, comdore ealy device disk drives. very laser disks, betamax, VHS, s vhs, zip drives, floppy disk all formats including ones launched only ten years ago like the 120mb drive . Could back up to a cloud I can think of ones which offer 100gb's per person. but companies will come and go over 75 years. Most of these formats the average household would have problems laying their hands on im guessing. Even old HDD formats as we move forward will be complicated for the person in the street to read possibly as OS's develop and change even if they use ibm pc compatiables or apples pass and present.

Best method for many things seems to be a hard copy if photos, diagrams or written word. Books or photos albums might be the best bet.