I have some going back to my first days with computers (~1997), but it's purely luck. I've certainly lost more files since then than I've kept.
Does that tear me up? Not one bit. And I guess that's the reason why people aren't clamouring for archival storage. We can deal with loss. It's a normal part of life.
It's nice when we do have old pictures etc. but maybe they're only nice because it's rare. If you could readily drop into archives and look at poorly lit pictures of people doing mundane things 50 years ago, how often would you do it?
I'm reminded of something one of my school teachers recognised 20+ years ago: you'd watch your favourite film every time it was on TV, but once you get it on DVD you never watch it again.
I think in general we find it very difficult to value things without scarcity. But maybe we just have to think about things differently. Food is already not valuable because it's scarce. Instead I consider each meal valuable because I enjoy it but can only afford to eat two meals a day if I want to remain in shape. I struggle to think of an analogy for post-scarcity data, though.
Does that tear me up? Not one bit. And I guess that's the reason why people aren't clamouring for archival storage. We can deal with loss. It's a normal part of life.
It's nice when we do have old pictures etc. but maybe they're only nice because it's rare. If you could readily drop into archives and look at poorly lit pictures of people doing mundane things 50 years ago, how often would you do it?
I'm reminded of something one of my school teachers recognised 20+ years ago: you'd watch your favourite film every time it was on TV, but once you get it on DVD you never watch it again.
I think in general we find it very difficult to value things without scarcity. But maybe we just have to think about things differently. Food is already not valuable because it's scarce. Instead I consider each meal valuable because I enjoy it but can only afford to eat two meals a day if I want to remain in shape. I struggle to think of an analogy for post-scarcity data, though.