> On Jan 17, 2023, at 8:58 AM, Zane Healy via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org>
> wrote:
>
>> On Jan 16, 2023, at 6:48 PM, Fred Cisin via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>> I am interested in whatever media are more likely to still be readable in a
>> few decades.
>>
>> M-Disc claims 100 year life, but, obviously, no M-Disc has lasted that long,
>> and they are making promises based on what they THINK will happen.
>>
>> M-Disc BDXL is currently available in 100GB per platter.
>
> In the early days of this list (think back 25 years), I believe it was Tim
> Shoppa that was recommending either Gold CD-R blanks, or Verbatim
> DataLifePlus. If I remember correctly, he’d done some aging tests on them,
> and they were the two that held up well. As a result, I standardized on
> Verbatim DataLifePlus for any CD’s I expected to be reading after a year.
> I’ve read ones from 1997 without problem. In fact I think I’ve only had a
> couple minor issues. One of the disks I read had to be washed before I could
> even attempt it as it has been sitting out bare.
>
> What has surprised me is the results from the floppies, mostly stored in the
> garage for the last 15 years, and before that, I don’t remember. Granted I
> tended to go with higher quality floppies, but still, I’ve expected a lot
> more issues than I’ve had. Some of the 3.5” floppies I’ve read date back to
> 1987 or 88. Mind you I’ve not tried to recover data from 5.25” floppies yet,
> I’m still trying to find those, and a big drawer/box of 3.5” floppies.
Sometimes you run into surprises with particular media manufacturers. I
blaclisted Fuji when 100% of my Fuji audio cassettes failed (media failing such
that playback would be overwhelmed by squeaky noises heard on the playback, not
just the drive mechanism). No other brands did this sort of wholesale
collapse, and most haven't failed at all, not even the cheaper ones.
paul
