[Leica] Re: Digital image longevity

[jshul at comcast.net (Jim Shulman)]

Larry,

I don't disagree that digital storage media can last decades.  My point was
that so much interesting history depends on inadvertent, rather than
intentional preservation.  For a serious photographer, such as Ted or Tina
or Kyle, who wants to leave behind a cataloged legacy of images, digital
media is just fine, so long as it's preserved in a form that can be
retrieved.

Inadvertent preservation is when you find things that were not intended to
be saved, such as the images stuck away in a shoebox, or heaved into the
local dumpster.  Much of what I treasure, such as this week's image, was
indeed dumpster fodder.  The fact that I could SEE IT easily at the dump
spelled the difference between a shared memory and oblivion.  

In fifty years, if I came across a pile of CD-Rs in the old-fashioned jpeg
format, and if I happened to have a disk reader, and if I felt like buying
an unlabeled disk without looking at the contents, then an ephemeral digital
image might stand a chance of rediscovery.  However, more than likely the
neat ephemeral image wound up in a long-junked computer hard drive, or
deleted from a long-ago disposed digital camera.

Best,
Jim


-----Original Message-----
From: lug-bounces+jshul=comcast.net@leica-users.org
[mailto:lug-bounces+jshul=comcast.net@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of Lawrence
Zeitlin
Sent: Monday, August 14, 2006 4:01 PM
To: lug@leica-users.org
Subject: [Leica] Re: Digital image longevity


On Aug 14, 2006, at 10:45 AM, Jim wrote:

> My biggest complaint about digital imaging is that we will likely  
> lose the
> "shoebox" to the ages--no tangible receptacle, like an old shoebox,  
> for
> prints or negatives.  What's the likelihood that ephemeral digital  
> images
> will survive?  Not bloody likely, unless you're a computer expert  
> like Brian
> and copy all your work regularly.


Jim,

Despite the gloom and doom about digital media longevity, Kodak  
claims that accelerated life span testing shows that properly  
handled, high quality CD-R discs will retain images for 50 years or  
longer. Kodak's definition of proper handling precludes using the  
discs as Frisbees or as hot drink coasters. They prefer that you keep  
the discs in individual wrappers in a box at room temperature or  
below. Kodak used to make a line of gold flashed discs of exceptional  
stability but I haven't seen any for some time. I'm sure that top of  
the line discs from other makers will have comparable quality.  
However, if you want to look at your images 50 years from now, you  
might have difficulty finding a CD player. I suggest you store one of  
those in the shoe box with the discs.

Brian is right. It might be a good idea to refresh the image file  
from time to time as new media formats become popular. But it ain't  
brain surgery.

Larry Z