We will be binding the PAPER copies the minutes of our Library Board meetings. Putting them on CD was suggested as a cheaper alternative, but these are supposed to become permanent records.

I try to periodically "exercise" my reel-to-reel tapes and cassettes, but some haven't been touched in years.

I am, professionally and personally, concerned about the unreadability of data. Most here may have seen a 5.25 inch floppy, but how many have seen an 8 inch one (hey, I'm talking magnetic disks here; get your mind outa the gutter!). Have you ever seen paper tape? punched cards? or
programmed by using jumper wires on a board?

Our library system "went down" last night. The staff simply continued checking stuff in and out...by writing barcodes on paper instead of recording them in SQL tables in a Sybase-powered database.

"Artificial Intelligence is only as intelligent as the length of the power cord."