A reader wrote this in response to a question about transferring 8 mm film. “Perhaps John could have solved his problem by getting his wedding film copied onto an archival quality DVD disc. Expensive, but supposedly guaranteed for 100 years! I have stored a lot on mine, but can’t verify the 100 years.”
I can definitely tell you that 100 years is really stretching it. Perhaps a DVD kept in optimum conditions and never played might make it that long, but a 10 to 20 year range is more reasonable (less if it is frequently played or kept in heat, damp, or cold). I’d also caution against transferring only to a DVD format that plays in conventional home DVD players. I would choose a current video file standard and ask for the digital file on a flash drive. That way you have the option to keep the file on a hard drive or later have it converted to another type of file if video standards change. There’s no guarantee that DVD players as they exist now will be commonly available in 15 years. (Look what happened to VHS.) If you have a lot of precious memories stored on DVDs, I’d also look at transferring those files to other storage mediums as well.
~ Cynthia
A couple of years ago I was interested in finding a way to store legal documents on DVD’s for the maximum length of time possible. For detailed information regarding DVD life expectancy, you may want to read the information provided at this web site: http://thexlab.com/faqs/opticalmedialongevity.html
You seem to be overlooking M-disk (DVD) which is designed for archives with estimate life of nearly a 1000 years. Whether or not there are players in 100 or 1000 years nobody knows. I would not be surprised if a different scanning technology will be available then that does not require spinning the disk and can read anything optical no matter the format. The issue of other technologies is not just obsolescence but whether the data remains intact on the media. If the media degrades to unreadable it wont matter what technology you have.
At the very least anything of value $$ or sentimental deserve multiple storage methods. DVD, Hard Drive, Flash Drive, Cloud and perhaps another Hard Drive. In event of failure or obsolescence, 1 is None, 2 is 1, 3 is a Spare.
would another option be uploading to the cloud? Still a storage device with limited life span.
whoops, never mind; that’s one of the options listed in above response.
There is a little information which is not generally published about cd/dvd s.
Most assume the data is on the shiny bottom! Wrong! It is burned onto the bottom of the skinny thin film on top of the cd/dvd!. DO NOT USS A BALL POINT PEN TO LABEL! It will destroy the data and make it worthless. If possible, use the computer printable type for safer and much more professional looks.
Another tip: I lost several cd’s when I first started saving important photos and data by using the stick on labels! Yes, of course they work fine for a few years. Then the glue eats through the top film where the data is burned and destroys the disc!
Now, I use nothing but computer printable disc and haven’t lost a one in the past years since it became available!
Good luck.