Re: [microsound] decay

[Greg <gregg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> And finally, can anyone point me to any reliable statistics on digital
> decay?  I've heard various theories that digital is not an archival
medium,
> by any stretch of the imagination.  What happens when the digital decays?
> Do the bits simply break down?  Will digital media, even if not
*physically*
> damaged (eg, if a CD, not scratched), actually become corrupted over time?

I would require some sort of damage or breakdown of the storage medium.
Digital information per-se cannot degrade, since it is only a code. With
CD's (more noticeably CDRs), the chemical elements will breakdown over time.
Unfortunately (or fortunately for manufacturers) glass-mastered CDs
composition breakdown will take at least fifty years, but then the medium
hasn't been around that long so no accurate studies have been done. Some
suggest CDs could last 100+ years. Who knows?

Digital is the best archival medium available. Nothing else comes close. The
ability to constantly backup digital code means that even if the storage
medium corrupts, as long as copies have been made then the information can
be stored in perpetuity. Ironically the next closest thing would be paper &
ink.