2008 Woodie Awards
RSSGeneration Q
The Iron Scheff
By Tiffany Scheff
Issue date: 10/23/07 Section: Opinion
Recently, my computer just would not start. While WIRED fixed my PC, I lost my number one procrastination source: the Internet.
I now had more free time, which I spent being productive (watching a marathon of "America's Next Top Model"). Rather than my routine of checking Gmail before bed, I began two books that have been on my reading list for the past year. But old habits die hard. I broke down and used my roommate's Mac to consistently check my e-mail.
With no computer, I missed being able to write papers in the comfort of my bedroom lounging in pajamas. Feeling like a Luddite, I handwrote an essay (incidentally about the progress of science) before typing it at the library.
But the aspect I missed most during my two computer-free weeks was not being able to view the 4,604 pictures that I have saved. Thankfully, because my hard drive was not the origin of the computer problem, I still have these files. This isn't always the case.
Leaving ourselves dependent on machines to preserve our data is why this time period is being referred to as the digital dark ages (in reference to the early period of the Middle Ages with little written record). Because what we do on the computer is coded, encrypted and proprietary, the advancement of technology may leave future generations without compatible methods to read our present files.
As for my pictures, a simple solution is to order prints online. But consider the almost disappearance of NASA's 1976 Viking landing records. The magnetic tapes were in an unknown format, requiring University of Southern California students to search for printouts of the information and manually type in the data. The British Broadcasting Company had a similar instance with its archived photographs and writings from 1986 to celebrate the 900th anniversary of the original Doomsday Book circa 1086. The 11th century survey can still be easily read - the more recent one needs special software and hardware.
I now had more free time, which I spent being productive (watching a marathon of "America's Next Top Model"). Rather than my routine of checking Gmail before bed, I began two books that have been on my reading list for the past year. But old habits die hard. I broke down and used my roommate's Mac to consistently check my e-mail.
With no computer, I missed being able to write papers in the comfort of my bedroom lounging in pajamas. Feeling like a Luddite, I handwrote an essay (incidentally about the progress of science) before typing it at the library.
But the aspect I missed most during my two computer-free weeks was not being able to view the 4,604 pictures that I have saved. Thankfully, because my hard drive was not the origin of the computer problem, I still have these files. This isn't always the case.
Leaving ourselves dependent on machines to preserve our data is why this time period is being referred to as the digital dark ages (in reference to the early period of the Middle Ages with little written record). Because what we do on the computer is coded, encrypted and proprietary, the advancement of technology may leave future generations without compatible methods to read our present files.
As for my pictures, a simple solution is to order prints online. But consider the almost disappearance of NASA's 1976 Viking landing records. The magnetic tapes were in an unknown format, requiring University of Southern California students to search for printouts of the information and manually type in the data. The British Broadcasting Company had a similar instance with its archived photographs and writings from 1986 to celebrate the 900th anniversary of the original Doomsday Book circa 1086. The 11th century survey can still be easily read - the more recent one needs special software and hardware.
