And if need be, could be hand-copied by scribes. So can books, if they are properly stored and if they are printed on acid-free paper.
Sure, digital data can be copied onto different media--if someone thinks they are worth the effort to do so, long before a real need for that information arises.
A lot of old movies can be copied and restored, but many classics have been lost because celluloid deteriorates in the cans, over time. A lot of digital data has been lost too, because the media it was on is now obsolete, or because there was so much of it it was not considered cost effective to keep it stored properly. I remember a lot of old Landsat data has been destroyed because someone needed to overwrite the 9" tapes, and now, even the means of reading those tapes no longer exists. Hell, I can't even read my old floppies any more.
Sure, a technological society could easily reverse-engineer a read capability for magnetic or disc media (assuming it has a long shelf life) but what if we have a Canticle for Leibowitz scenario?
Sorry, the class Luddite just felt the need to bring that up.
Off Topic » in reply to Troubling experience with a defective book
Cuneiform on clay tablets and papyrus scrolls lasted for thousands of years.
The whole thread (25 posts)
- Troubling experience with a defective book
- It popped into my mind...
- Cuneiform on clay tablets and papyrus scrolls lasted for thousands of years.
- Book...to haul ass.
- I have accumulated several tablet readers..
- What the publishers aren't telling you...
- I had one last week.