[Leica] PJ standards -- Like Caesar's wife

[Frank Dernie <Frank.Dernie@btinternet.com>]

This is all true Jack but archiving data only needs a good plan. Surely 
anybody with important data archives in a routine fashion - I do. 
Anybody who has data that they need to keep which is still on IBM punch 
cards deserves to lose it :)
I move my data and programmes forward in a methodical way as time goes 
on (and I have done since about 1970) None of my old Fortran programmes 
on punched cards are still on punched cards. I haven,t used floppy 
discs of any sort for about 4 years etc etc. If I, not very organised 
in general, can do this everybody can. It is even relatively easy to 
automate and, as the new technology gets faster all the time, the time 
taken for archiving is less now (for me) than ever.
Frank

> Jack McLain made a good point
> I would not bet on that.  I work with data generated for submission to 
> the
> FDA and other regulatory agencies in support of new pharmaceuticals.  
> Over
> the past two decades this data has been collected and stored in ever
> changing digital formats.  As each new generation or technology is 
> adapted
> the issue of "warehousing" this data, which by law, must be maintained 
> for
> proscribed periods of time, becomes a significant problem.
>
> "Orphaned" technology, as the older media is referred to (cards, paper 
> tape,
> floppys, disks of all sorts), requires outdated technology to read it, 
> and
> the issue of transfer from one media to another raises the issue of
> degradation and accessability of the orphaned technology.  In order to 
> read
> old IBM cards one must almost go to the Smithsonian to find a working 
> card
> reader.
>
> I suspect strongly, that as digital photography continues to evolve 
> (at it's
> current rate or faster in the future) that this same problem will 
> inhibit
> the transfer of the millions of images that are stored in newspaper and
> private PJ files.  The expense and time, not to mention the technical 
> issues
> (to insure ACCURATE digital transfers) will prohibit this from 
> happening.
> It's just too big a job.
>
> Jack McLain
> Tucson

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