Future of CDROM, DVD, etc.

[Ken Kinman]

Jan,
     I don't think they had yet starting using wood pulp for paper back in
1837.  Koch, 1837, is probably printed on cotton rag paper or something
similar.   On the other hand, it sounds like the Petrunkevich work is
probably printed on acidic wood pulp paper.
    Of course, they didn't realize the acid in the paper would be so
destructive over time.  But it kind of makes you wonder if there could be
some unknown defect in today's CDROM's which might cause an escalating loss
of electronic data over time (above and beyond the random errors we already
know about).  Of course, it will affect data intensive sciences (like the
space sciences) long before it does taxonomy, so we can take some comfort
from that I guess.
                     ------Ken Kinman
********************************************************
>From: Jan Bosselaers <dochterland at VILLAGE.UUNET.BE>
>Reply-To: Jan Bosselaers <dochterland at VILLAGE.UUNET.BE>
>To: TAXACOM at USOBI.ORG
>Subject: Re: Future of CDROM, DVD, etc.
>Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2000 22:10:00 +0200
>
>Ed Pirog wrote:
>
> >  Those bulletins from over 100 years ago are
> > still around and are useful references as they are.
>
>Well it depends: I have C.L. Koch's Uebersicht des Arachnidensystems (1837)
>here
>which is still in mint condition, but on the other hand I have a copy of
>Petrunkevich's On families of spiders (1923) which is slowly breaking up
>into
>small pieces. It may last another 100 years, but not very much longer I'm
>afraid.
>
>Jan
>-------------------------------------------------------------
>Jan Bosselaers
>"Dochterland", R. novarumlaan 2
>B-2340 Beerse, Belgium                       tel 32-14-615896
>home: dochterland at village.uunet.be      fax 32-14-610306
>work: jbossela at janbe.jnj.com
>web: http://gallery.uunet.be/Dochterland/
>"Rerum omnium magister usus" Julius Caesar
>(everything can be learned by practice)
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