Originally posted by George Lama
In this day and age it's amazing that there is still only one media that could ensure images are available to future generations... good ole paper.
Originally posted by SpecialK Not unless it is archively treated and stored under controlled conditions.
Paper prints stand a better chance of lasting several generations than digital media unless the processing was off spec. All thos pictures in boxes under people's beds from early last century is testament to the longevity of paper prints. OTOH, I've had CDs that were less than 5 years old become corrupted and unreadable, and hard drives will fail at some point.
Digital is only a better storage medium if someone is there to mother hen the media and make sure it stays intact.
Originally posted by Stone G.
But I do not know for sure whether each and all of the images that I have uploaded to the internet will ever vanish for ever. Hasn't someone said: "The internet never forgets" ?
It may not forget, but it may not be able to find your stuff for you, either.
And, when the company that hosts the server changes hardware, they might look at the files manager of their hard drive to see what hasn't been accessed for a while and just nuke those files.
Originally posted by twitch I think it's a real issue. As well as the usual backups on site and off site, I create numerious photobooks each year. One for each holiday we take, one for each child for the year, and a "family photo album" for the year. I think it's sad that probably 90% of families these days no longer have tangable photo albums that can picked up off the bookself and browsed through.
I do have to wonder how permanent photo books are. They are pretty much just fancy inkjet prints. The same with the new generation photolabs that are using thermal transfer of colour dye rather than wet processing.
The technology hasn't proven itself yet. Even when colour was relatively new, there were problems. E-4 process slides had a bad habit of fading to clear acetate (in dark storage), and an early run of Agfa paper ended up fading out after a very short period of time, like a few years. Even Kodachrome will fade if left in the light.
OTOH, it's still a better solution than digital from a forget about it and hope it's still there in 50 years POV.