How The Loss Of A Great Library Shows Data’s Fragile State Today

<blockquote> <p>&ldquo;A false sense of security persists surrounding digitized documents&hellip;Without constant maintenance and management, most digital information will be lost in just a few decades. Our modern records are far from permanent.&rdquo;</p> <p>&mdash; Adrienne Bernhard,&nbsp;<a href="https://longnow.org/ideas/shining-a-light-on-the-digital-dark-age/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Shining A Light On The Digital Dark Age</a>, The Long Now Foundation</p> </blockquote> <p>Technology has given us power that our ancient ancestors might mistake for that of a deity. But it&rsquo;s also made us arrogant. While we may rightly point to our achievements against&nbsp;<a href="https://medium.com/mind-cafe/according-to-history-you-are-born-at-the-perfect-time-1c93e733b7c9" rel="noopener">childhood mortality</a>, starvation, and our knowledge of&nbsp;<a href="https://medium.com/@erikcbrown267/the-human-endeavor-which-took-3-000-years-to-accomplish-a12200a1c1ea" rel="noopener">flight</a>, other areas are terribly lacking.</p> <p>Namely, in data storage.</p> <p>Now, this may cause you to tilt your head in surprise. And why wouldn&rsquo;t it? You&rsquo;re likely reading these words on a device with gigs of storage, not to mention your handy flash drive not far away. Perhaps you even have cloud backup. Inevitably, it&rsquo;s all not as secure as you think.</p> <p>According to data storage company&nbsp;<a href="https://www.arcserve.com/blog/data-storage-lifespans-how-long-will-media-really-last" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"><em>Arcserve</em></a>, electronic memory was first developed in 1947, and the first magnetic tapes in 1951. While digital may be magical and fast, durability isn&rsquo;t its strong point.</p> <p><a href="https://medium.com/lessons-from-history/how-the-loss-of-a-great-library-shows-datas-fragile-state-today-a66f788a9bc"><strong>Read More</strong></a></p>