Will Your Photos Last a Thousand Years? - Comments Page 1
Posted by:
|
Will using M-Discs for music also obtain the same results or is music stored on conventional CD-Rs and DVD-Rs safe from storage degradation? |
Posted by:
|
A timely article, Bob, as usual. This subject has been of concern to me of late as I have spent months and months scanning in thousands of old photos. But those I have mainly kept on four backup hard drives and have been circulating them to younger family members on USB sticks. The main reason I found your article interesting was because I have also been copying many scores of DVDs from the hard drive of my DVR to store. Some of my older DVDs wouldn't play. But I came across Verbatim Archival Grade DVD-R discs and have been using these. They are quite a lot more expensive and I haven't been using them long enough to really test their durability. What are your thoughts on those? |
Posted by:
|
Hi Bob. I use LG BP50NB40 and Verbatim BD-R 'M' discs. All my data is backed up to M discs. The real important stuff get encrypted before burning. I format the M disc as a USB drive so I can read/write and delete to a 25GB BD-R "M" disc. |
Posted by:
|
M-disks cost ~ $0.20/G |
Posted by:
|
About two years ago I purchased an LG DVD writer that clearly stated on the box that it was M-Disk capable. I then went to the sales staff & even the tech dept and asked them if they sold M-Disks. NO One had any idea what I was talking about. It was only after I showed them the DVD writer box that they believed that such a thing existed, and I wasn't just a middle aged idiot. Of course the large electronics store did NOT have any M-Disks. I am glad that you refreshed this topic as I was concerned that these might have faded away. |
Posted by:
|
Bob, thanks for the good information (as usual). How does CD storage compare with the expected longevity of cloud server storage -- such as used by Google Drive? |
Posted by:
|
I've got DVDs and CDs that are pushing 20 years since I've recorded on them and they're still fine. I've heard the stories about laser rot since the first laserdisc came out and I still have some of those. They still play just fine as well, although the picture quality isn't up to today's standards. I think they'll probably outlast my ancient laserdisc player. As for pictures I've recorded on my DVDs and CDs lasting 1,00 years, I'll have to wait and see. ;) |
Posted by:
|
How long will a usb flash drive last? |
Posted by:
|
Like Bill, I have DVDs and even older CDs (including my first burned CD-R) that have lasted 20+ years. In fact, the *only* optical disks that I've had go bad are those that have been physically mis-treated, either by scratches or exposed to excessive heat or sunlight. |
Posted by:
|
As a matter of interest how long do commercially produced dvds/blu-rays last? Will I still be able to watch my film collection in 20 years time? |
Posted by:
|
I've given up on CD's and DVD's altogether. Put everything on a NAS and back up the data to secondary storage. Data CD's, Music CD's, Video DVD's - everything is being ripped to the NAS. I have a few damaged discs and have purchased a CD/DVD resurfacer in the hopes of retrieving those as well. |
Posted by:
|
That is good to learn! I had no idea the colors on a CD or DVD had such a short life. My question is about the way the image is read so that it makes the same image. Software changes so much, does that enter this picture, of saving images? I began thinking it might be better to print important photos so they can be seen by future generations. |
Posted by:
|
I doubt that a thousand years from now folks wouldn't even know what a DVD is or have the means to read it. Maybe even 20 years from now folks wouldn't know. |
Posted by:
|
With the massive take up of USB flash drives and SSD and their improving life span, will there be any CD/DVD drives available or being made in 100 years time to read CD/DVDs? |
Posted by:
|
Even the most trusted expert indulges in alamist stuff from time. Sure gets your attention. I have CDs going way back and they can still be read. They've been well looked after. |
Posted by:
|
I think bb has provided the most pertinent comment. How long do you expect to have a device that will read and interpret what is written on these disks? Short of putting a device to do this into storage alongside the long term media, you could be struggling in 20 or 30 years time. |
Posted by:
|
It is ironic that the best storage medium should be, at this late date, solid stone, isn't it? Engrave the bits on a block of granite and they'd last as long as the pyramids, etc... But there is something new: DNA. New Scientist and such carry articles about the idea. DNA has sometimes lasted for tens of thousands of years. The idea is to borrow from nature and encode on DNA. Not only almost indestructable but incredibly tiny. Get all the world's data in a matchbox (or whatever, I'm only guessing). Meanwhile I use Hard Drives. No one has mentioned those, have they? Googling gets some interesting ideas on it but generally I think they're pretty good for off-line, sitting around in the cupboard, long term storage. Until the DNA gets here. |
Posted by:
|
p.s. |
Posted by:
|
Thanks for another interesting article Bob. I will certainly look into getting a drive and burn my own disks. In reply to David about the life of commercial DVDs, my wife bought series 1 of Bones about 8 years ago and now 5 of the 6 disks are unreadable even though they look in good condition and have only been played a few times. |
Posted by:
|
Thank you Kerry, that's bad news. |
Read the article that everyone's commenting on.
To post a comment on "Will Your Photos Last a Thousand Years?"
please return to that article.
Need More Help? Try the AskBobRankin Updates Newsletter. It's Free! |
Prev Article: Solid State Drives Are The Future |
|
Next Article: [HOWTO] Boost Your Laptop's Wifi Reception |
Link to this article from your site or blog. Just copy and paste from this box: |
Free Tech Support -- Ask Bob Rankin Subscribe to AskBobRankin Updates: Free Newsletter About Us Privacy Policy RSS/XML |
(Read the article: Will Your Photos Last a Thousand Years?)