From Jack Cribb
Like Bryn Glover, I am concerned about how to preserve digital family photos for 50 years or so (9 January, p 26). Not only do you have to worry about the storage medium, but you also have to worry about the software and hardware needed to view them. While jpeg seems to be a widely accepted format, who is to say that in 50 years’ time the jpeg image captured today will still be viewable? Printed photos avoid these potential problems.
In lieu of prints, my solution is to ask my son to look after the transferring of the files to new storage media as and when the technology changes.
From Matthew Stevens
Bryn Glover is worried about preserving his digital photos for posterity. For family photographs, I use CDs with a pure-gold layer, which are guaranteed for 100 years and are in fact mandated by some hospitals for long-term data storage. Being effectively inert, the gold does not corrode like the aluminium in cheaper CDs.
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Thornleigh, New South Wales, Australia
The editor writes:
• You can read further discussion of modern data storage options on page 36 of this issue.
Waverton, New South Wales, Australia
