i'm sure we'll be able to read it all or recover it from crashes with  
mirrored back ups.  Just ask the White House about emails.
Tim

On Nov 13, 2007, at 8:51 PM, Bob Skiles wrote:

>>
>> But 15 years later, British officials found the information on the  
>> discs was practically inaccessible - not because the discs were  
>> corrupted, but because they were no longer compatible with modern  
>> computer systems. By contrast, the original Domesday Book, written  
>> on parchment in 1086, is still in readable condition in England's  
>> National Archives in Kew. (The multimedia version was ultimately  
>> salvaged.) "
>>
>
> http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4201645.html
>
> The author apparently confuses the difference between legible and  
> readable. Even though the origininal Domesday Book is very well  
> preserved and perfectly "legible" he fails to mention that, it too,  
> is "practically inaccessible" ... as it is written in Latin and in  
> an ofttimes confusing format, and for all practical purposes of the  
> average person "reading" or accessing the data, it's just as  
> inaccessible as the obsolete laser discs became.
> "Although unique in character and invaluable to the student,  
> scholars are unable to explain portions of its language and of its  
> system. This is partly due to its very early date, which has placed  
> a gulf between Domesday Book and later records which is difficult  
> to bridge." - from wikipedia entry

Timothy Scarlett
Assistant Professor of Archaeology
Department of Social Sciences/AOB 209
Michigan Technological University
1400 Townsend Ave.
Houghton, MI 49931
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(906)487-2359 (office)
(906)487-2468 (fax)
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