4 ms·

We are living in the age of data impermanence. There is no mechanism to archive all of the content we are generating efficiently. Soundcloud represents but one

by strgrd 11y ago

We are living in the age of data impermanence. There is no mechanism to archive all of the content we are generating efficiently. Soundcloud represents but one of the many websites whose content will be lost forever to the digital dark ages.

jonknee 11y ago
Data has never been more permanent than it is now, but we're also generating much more data than ever.
- copperx 11y ago
  What are you talking about? Stone, paper, and magnetic tape are more permanent than any hard drive or optical storage medium today.
  - jonknee 11y ago
    Most things never made it to stone, paper and magnetic tape. We're recording more data now than ever before because it's so cheap to do so. Sure we lose some, but more information will be created and stored today than existed in the entire world not that long ago.
mc32 11y ago
On the other hand, without them, much of the content wouldn't have been anywhere anyway. So the content is there because they are there. And if the go away, so might some of that content as well as future content which won't have a home.
sangnoir 11y ago
> There is no mechanism to archive all of the content we are generating efficiently While we can't archive all the content, the folk at the Internet Archives* are put heroic efforts in preserving the notable content. If Soundcloud doesn't make it, I hope they at least work with the Internet Archive to preserve the data. 1. https://archive.org/ https://archive.org/
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
  Also, http://archiveteam.org/index.php?title=Main_Page http://archiveteam.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
dustingetz 11y ago
When programming with immutability becomes ubiquitous, this problem will be solved. Immutable systems enable permanent & idealized caching at all layers. This is more of a research topic now but is where we are headed in 10 year timeframe i think. Anyway, who cares. What about the last ten thousand years of content that nobody gives a shit about.
- duaneb 11y ago
  This is not a technological problem, it's a money problem.
  - 15charlimit 11y ago
    >This is not a technological problem, it's a money problem. It doesn't have to be, and in many cases it is not.

by strgrd 11y ago

jonknee 11y ago

Data has never been more permanent than it is now, but we're also generating much more data than ever.

copperx 11y ago
What are you talking about? Stone, paper, and magnetic tape are more permanent than any hard drive or optical storage medium today.
- jonknee 11y ago
  Most things never made it to stone, paper and magnetic tape. We're recording more data now than ever before because it's so cheap to do so. Sure we lose some, but more information will be created and stored today than existed in the entire world not that long ago.

mc32 11y ago

On the other hand, without them, much of the content wouldn't have been anywhere anyway. So the content is there because they are there. And if the go away, so might some of that content as well as future content which won't have a home.

sangnoir 11y ago

> There is no mechanism to archive all of the content we are generating efficiently While we can't archive all the content, the folk at the Internet Archives* are put heroic efforts in preserving the notable content. If Soundcloud doesn't make it, I hope they at least work with the Internet Archive to preserve the data. 1. https://archive.org/ https://archive.org/

toomuchtodo 11y ago
Also, http://archiveteam.org/index.php?title=Main_Page http://archiveteam.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

dustingetz 11y ago

When programming with immutability becomes ubiquitous, this problem will be solved. Immutable systems enable permanent & idealized caching at all layers. This is more of a research topic now but is where we are headed in 10 year timeframe i think. Anyway, who cares. What about the last ten thousand years of content that nobody gives a shit about.

duaneb 11y ago
This is not a technological problem, it's a money problem.
- 15charlimit 11y ago
  >This is not a technological problem, it's a money problem. It doesn't have to be, and in many cases it is not.