This completely ignores https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Error_correction_code https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Error_correction_code Those have been known for a long

This completely ignores https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Error_correction_code https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Error_correction_code Those have been known for a long time and they are used in practice for both transmission and long-term storage. Big storage arrays come with health metrics and auto-rebalancing around broken drives. The idea that digital storage media degrades without "opportunity for someone to notice" is outright false.