[Yr11 Information Technology] [Year 12 SofDev] Magnetic storage lifetimes

[Roland Gesthuizen]

I wonder if it is because the older FDD media wrote data with a lower density, extending it’s lifetime. BTW, I recall reading that magnetic tape, especially audio is prone to failure around 20 years for a swag of different, sticky reasons https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151014142223.htm <https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151014142223.htm>
 
A salutary reminder for me to grab the digital video that I took of the kids growing up decades ago, and copy the tapes over onto something more permanent and backed up.

Thanks Sven for the reflection :-)

Best of wishes, Roland
 
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Subject: [Year 12 SofDev] Magnetic storage lifetimes
 
Apologies for crossposts, but the lists don't seem to be exactly BUZZING with activity recently.
 
God morgon!  Some cheery winter news for you.
 
I've often wondered about the lifetime of magnetic data storage (hard disks, floppy disks) so I delved into my archives.

A 3.5" FDD* last written to in 1993 (nearly 30 years ago) reads perfectly (in a USB FDD drive*).
 
Wow.
 
That magnetic data is more persistent than I thought.
 
Sven.
 
*A 3M brand 1.44MB floppy, read in a Lacie Pocket USB FDD 706018 MYFLOPPY3 drive.
 
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