For those who diligently perform DAM or are interested – a new worry for you… bit rot.  Nope, not just with files stored on CD or DVD ROM.   This is in addition to the regular updates in terms of long term data storage technology.  I think Dr’s offices are the slowest to adopt new tech – I mean you still have to fax over referrals, and they will give you a copy of your X-ray on CD.  I mean new computers haven’t included a CD reader option for years.  Big storage keeps changing.  You have to migrate your files from the old storage to the new storage all the time.  So in addition to bit rot, there’s also the chance it can be corrupted during a migration.   Store your files in the cloud?  Okay but even those companies can have issues –  my hosting company was bought by another company and some stuff was lost in the changeover to new servers.  Not a lot, but it can happen.  Some of the 500# Gorilla’s offering cloud storage can decide to compress your cloud files or make other changes.  That’s the great thing about film – no format changes.  It’s pretty stable over time if you store it well.  Anyhow the below linked article on F-stoppers was pretty interesting.  I did not know even Hollywood is making film recordings of their digital movies for long storage.   The way to go from a digital file to an analog negative is called ‘film recording’.  And there are companies out there that still provide this service.  About 15 years ago, art galleries and contests still wanted to review slides so I had to get some slides made from my digital capture.  Actually they are still pretty amazing to look at. Color is incredible and no dots even when projected.  I could be a good way to go (archive) for as the author of the article says – for your best images.

Bit rot, or the slow deterioration in the performance and integrity of data stored on various forms of digital storage media, is a real concern for photographers. Over time, digital photos degrade

Source: Did You Know You Can Archive Your Digital Photos on Analog Film? |