I got to talking with our universities "IT guy" the other day while training for the Fall courses. According to him, it's not a good idea to save any work on a floppy disc, because they deteriorate in a few years and their technology is already obsolete.
Me: "Okay, so what do you use?"
He told me the best thing currently was something like a CD-R/RW drive. Then, he added: "But, honestly, the problem is that the technology will be obsolete in a few years."
Me: "Okay, is there anything that won't be obsolete in a few years?"
Him: "No, nothing affordable. That's why the libraries are reconsidering going digital. The stuff gets lost when the state-of-the-art changes."
Me: "So, wait- I have a book in my bag from the 1870s that I checked out from my library."
Him: "Exactly."
Me: "So the most state of the art and reliable way to store information is still a metal filing cabinet filled with papers?"
Him: "Yes, exactly."
2 comments:
so much for the paperless office...
Yeah, we've all but given up on it.
I think it would be possible to have a paperless office. But, everyone would have to agree that all the work they're doing is totally disposable.
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