Microfilm Lasts Half a Millennium
I appreciate how the article highlights the longevity of polyester-based microfilm and the simple technology (lamp and magnifier) needed to read it.<p>But as a digital native myself, I&#x27;m disappointed that they failed to emphasize the biggest advantage of digital information storage - the fact that data can be copied <i>perfectly</i>, as many times as you want. Analog microfilm cannot be copied perfectly - the original is always better than the copy. This means the microfilm is a unique artifact that needs to be preserved and taken care of. One disaster, one fire, or one careless handler, and the object is damaged.<p>With digital technology, we pay a high price in the lines of code to build an application and interface, to specify seemingly opaque binary file formats, to have physical media (floppy, CD, etc.) go obsolete in a decade, and to build complex CPUs - but never forget that what we gain is the tremendous ability to copy perfectly. This is what allows us to share a file with someone and know that their copy is a perfect backup for mine in case mine is lost. This is what allows us to transfer files from old, slow, unreliable media (e.g. floppy disks) to new, fast media (e.g. SSDs) without missing a beat. This is why we can take a sizable collection of a thousand audio CDs and cram them into one convenient hard disk drive (as WAV, not MP3), with the exact same audio quality. This is why we can transmit files over the Internet - we surely can&#x27;t transmit analog data over a distance without a high risk of degradation.<p>If we collectively accept that storing information digitally with the ability to make perfect copies is worth the effort, then there are things we can do to improve the status quo. We need to make it easier to find and manage file duplicates - otherwise it&#x27;s hard to know whether a copied file has been modified or not. We need emphasize building applications on open standards. We need to make file format specifications accessible, well-defined, and easier to understand. We need to make systems that have low implementation complexity (e.g. CPU with few transistors, OS with few lines of code) to show what is the minimum knowledge needed to reboot the technology.<p>While microfilm may last 500 years, digital data could truly be forever - as long as you copy it periodically.