Digital BW, The Print

Peter, what you mention is a very valid concern. I use to have data 
on 5 inch floppies and I actually still have some 5 inch floppies but 
nothing to read them with. Proper archival is simple, although no 
necessarily quick and inexpensive:

Two or more copies on different types of media.
The copies must be stored in different locations.
The media must be periodically verified and rotated out faster than 
the media degrades or becomes obsolete.

Cheers,
Mark

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "pjb74nz" 
<peter@...> wrote:
>
> Starting again regarding the above. 
> 
> You are all on the same track regarding your existing files. But 
I'm 
> not even certain you will be able to put the disk into a matchbox 
> sized device we now call a PC.
> 
> In the previous discussion everyone talked about the backup method, 
> system or media readability in the future. The possibility of loss 
> due to fire, flood, lost or stolen. Media corrosion due to age etc 
> etc etc.
> 
> BUT what about the fact that in a few years, (yes a few years) that 
> your RAW files will not be able to be converted to DNG. Why because 
> Adobe may be bought by a company that doesn't want to support DNG 
> anymore for whatever reason. Mainly financial. Google looks like 
the 
> company that would buy Adobe and why would they care about RAW or 
> even TIF, JPG and GIF. They just want to control the ability to 
share 
> not archive. If they did they may want the rights to your files 
just 
> so you could look at them. 
> 
> Now what happens if Microsoft and Mac OS is a distant memory and we 
> all are using "Google Quick Start" on a mobile device that is 
smaller 
> than a CD or DVD and only capable of taking the replacement for 
what 
> is now known as Flash drives. Or maybe the only input or output 
> device is a Google web device and all they understand is a file 
> without any .xxx extension, which is now a thing of the past, and 
> images are digital signatures and compressed to a single pixel and 
> can be expanded to several thousand billion pixels in a second and 
be 
> read by pointing the device at fresh air. 
> 
> Does all this sound like science fiction. Maybe but I don't think 
so  
> because this is how I see things progressing. The PC as we know 
today 
> is a pig of a beast and is just waiting to be replaced.
> 
> I'd be interested in your comments and before you ask, our cameras 
> would all be wirelessly connected to Googles website as well. Every 
> photo shot will be sent to their comets travelling the world and 
> sucking up information and sharing it with all.
> 
> Peter Banks
> Telecommunications Technician
> and IT Engineer for over 30 years
> New Zealand
>