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> The joys of IT. Back in the day, to wipe years of records you had to burn or shred tons of paper in multiple locations. Now you just crash one little system.
by pslam 10y ago
> The joys of IT. Back in the day, to wipe years of records you had to burn or shred tons of paper in multiple locations. Now you just crash one little system. [...] most organizations will still have a single backup system for any given data repository -- if they have one at all.
No, back in the day, you could still wipe years of records because most people only used a single filing cabinet with no duplication or off-site copies. "Destroyed in a fire" was the canonical way to destroy all records, easily. This story has nothing to do with the introduction of IT. Incompetence is still incompetence.
- droopyEyelids 10y agoFire? Why be so bombastic. All it takes is one mis-applied label to permanently destroy records in a large enough filing system.
- icebraining 10y agoBernard: Shall I file it? Hacker: Shall you file it? Shred it! Bernard: Shred it? Hacker: No one must ever be able to find it again! Bernard: In that case, Minister, I think it's best I file it. Yes, Minister - The Death List
- chiph 10y ago16-18 million records destroyed in a fire in 1973: http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/fire-1973.html http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/fire-197...
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- thaumasiotes 10y agoBack in the day, in 2300 BC, records caught in fires were preserved forever, while records not so lucky eventually returned to the earth. (Barring the odd formal peace treaty inscribed in metal.) We know a lot more about conquered Mesopotamian kingdoms than we do about successful ones, because step one after taking over a city was apparently burning it down, or at least burning down the palace.