Archival preservation of software

[Chuck Guzis]

On 21 Oct 2007 at 12:28, Brad Parker wrote:

> heh.  they used to do that when new if you used them in a room over 85F :-)
> 
> I once (back when s-100 was current) tried to run several CP/M machines
> with 8" floppies in a un-airconditioned room over the summer.  big
> mistake.  We ended up with a lot of floppies with clear bands.

Our storage is a relatively constant 65F at 40-50 percent humidity.  
I'm more than a bit concerned that this is just the tip of the 
iceberg and other brands will follow suit.   Consider the situation, 
for example, with old DC-xxx carts of approximately the same age. 

It's akin to the situation with very old documents--you might have 
handled them a lot when they were newer, but as they get older and 
start decomposing, you realize that you'll have to capture the 
document's contents and forget about the medium on which they're 
inscribed.


Cheers,
Chuck