4 ms·
One of the major reasons to make something like this available is not research but to get the eggs in more than one basket. If archive.org ever went offline per
by tisme 14y ago
One of the major reasons to make something like this available is not research but to get the eggs in more than one basket. If archive.org ever went offline permanently that would be a pretty big disaster.
A backup copy of the library of Alexandria would have been a nice to have before it burned down but would have been priceless afterwards.
So please, make all of the archive available in some form. It will be an insane amount of data but at least there will be some institutions that will be able to insure this precious resource against various disasters.
- itry 14y agoWould somebody really care for the library of Alexandria these days? Im not through reading the internet yet.
- forensic 14y agoI have no words. The internet is flooded with pop culture bullshit. The Library contained precious works from some of the greatest geniuses in history--works that we know exist but were forever lost.
- sanxiyn 14y agoOn the other hand, it is still literally true that the internet also contains (although minuscule in proportion) precious works from some of the greatest geniuses in history, that you will not finish reading in your lifetime. My point is that it's not like there's any shortage of great reading materials. Unless you want some specific materials from the library of Alexandria, it does not make much sense to miss it. More here: http://www.gwern.net/Culture%20is%20not%20about%20Esthetics http://www.gwern.net/Culture%20is%20not%20about%20Esthetics
- kami8845 14y agoThere's still people that care relatively little for the study of the past. The internet is also filled with lots of things that aren't "pop culture bullshit"
- teeja 14y agoAfter I look at what careful study of great geniuses of the past and high culture did for us in the 1940s and ever since, forgetting the bulk of it (less technical stuff) is probably best. Most of the (intellectual) past is an albatross.
- padobson 14y agoI don't know that we necessarily miss it for the information that was in it, but I think we certainly miss it for the progress we lost without it. Electricity was discovered and even used in the ancient middle east. Steam powered perpetual motion devices were constructed, but never applied to locomotion. Can you imagine where we would be now as a species if ideas like these were allowed to propagate across the Mediterranean thousands of years ago? Steam powered devices are only 350+ years old, and your grandpa's grandpa probably did't have electricity in his house.
- abecedarius 14y agoIn what way was electricity used? (I support your overall point that better preservation would've sped progress, and wish to know if there's something I didn't know.)
- tisme 14y agoPossibly electroplating. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baghdad_Battery But without positive proof of a series connection I don't see how that is a sustainable theory. Wiring is a necessity.
- abecedarius 14y agoNeat, thanks -- I'd forgotten about that.
- arbuge 14y agoCarl S would be rolling in his grave. You need to watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jixnM7S9tLw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jixnM7S9tLw
- tisme 14y agoI find it hard to believe I'm reading this comment on Hacker News, if there was any group of people where I would expect the value of such a trove of knowledge about the past to be estimated at close to its true value.
- a3_nm 14y agoThere is a mirror of the Wayback Machine (which isn't all of archive.org's content, but still): http://www.bibalex.org/isis/frontend/archive/archive_web.aspx http://www.bibalex.org/isis/frontend/archive/archive_web.asp... Ironically enough, it is hosted at the New Library of Alexandria, Egypt. :)
- johnx123-up 14y agoOnce they acquire old domains, some websites start blocking archive.org through robots.txt. It would be better if there's any elegant solution for this problem.