Re: [PLUG] Media durability

I am involved in a discussion on another list
regarding long term archiving of data. While there
seems to be agreement on issues of the potential
obsolescence of data format and media (i.e. things
like 5.25" floppies and calendars and contacts stored
in Sidekick 2 or Packrat), there are unresolved
disagreements over the lifespan of the media itself.

My experience comes from the only time when I owned
different media simultaneously, the early 1980's.
Audio tapes from that era have physically degraded,
and moreover have bled to adjacently wrapped tape.
CDs from that era, play like new.

But others refer to "studies" of CDs lasting only 1-2
years while tapes last 10 years. While there are
numerous references to such studies, nobody has cited
anything that I can read, and I am skeptical based on
my aforementioned personal experience.

Has anyone here researched this issue and have a
citation for me?

All pointers appreciated.

While I certainly believe that manufactured CDs last a lot longer than a couple of years, that 1 to 2 yr figure for CDs could actually be talking about the CDs that you burn yourself. Since the recordable CDs actually use a kind of dye for the CD-recording laser to produce a reflective surface for the data and the manufactured CDs are just made that way with some other method. Perhaps a trip to HowStuffWorks.com would be worthwhile here.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

Steve Morgan