Digital Decay. Ever
heard of it? Regardless, you probably have
(or will have) to deal with it in some form or another. It’s easiest to understand with a simple
example:
Remember the floppy disk?
What if you realized you had an old file saved on a floppy disk that you
needed to access. Could you do it? Chances are, your computer doesn’t even have
a floppy drive. Even if it did, it
probably doesn’t have the software installed to view it.
So, how do you combat digital decay? Since technology is changing at an ever-increasing
rate, digital decay is too. As a result,
it is something that requires continuous attention. If you had saved that floppy file to a CD
when you had a floppy disk drive, you may not have the same problem. Plus, you could resave the file in a new, current
format.
Begin the process now of consistently backing up your data (preferably
not on a floppy disk). Options today include
portable hard drives, thumb drives, CDs, DVDs, or even in the cloud. It is often a good idea to have backups in
more than one format (i.e. portable hard drive and the cloud). Vigilance is
the best defense against data loss and digital decay. Have any of you had similar experiences?
