They Just Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To

Submitted by mott on July 29, 2008 - 13:34

Research

Since the invention of language, we've been using various technologies to store our data, from the Sumerian cuneiform scripts on tablets to the video files on your iPhone. While there are certain advantages to our modern systems of storage (try watching the latest Boston Legal episode on a clay tablet... talk about pixelation!), there seems to be a consistent pattern of decreasing life-span for the data storage mechanism.

In other words, an inverse relationship exists between longevity and modernity in terms of data storage technology: the more recently a technology is put into wide use, the less time it is expected to last.

200807291031

There may be many reasons for this including planned obsolescence, free-market battles between proprietary technologies, and the fact that we can't know for sure how long a technology will last without actually testing it. Check back at this blog in 7,000 years and there'll be definitive data.

A corollary to this trend is the fact that we care less and less about where the data actually resides. So-called "cloud-computing" is an example of this. While humans continue to care about data, we are increasingly motivated by making the information important and the medium irrelevant.

The music industry is a good example of this. Those of us in our 40s can remember, and may still own, the same music in vinyl, eight-track tape, cassette tape, CD, and any number of digital format files. It used to be that you needed to play a record on a record player, a tape in a tape player, a CD in a CD player. Now, we can listen to our digital file on almost any device handily available, be it computer, iPod, iPhone, GPS, picture frame... probably even modern refrigerators.

The new strategy for longevity of data is adaptability. To wit: keep multiple versions, in multiple places, on multiple media.

And this is why we have backups of backups of backups.

Teach your students adaptability, so they can last.

And next time you see this message...