From Kent Williams Sent Tue, Mar 2nd 1999, 17:54
From Kent Williams Sent Tue, Mar 2nd 1999, 17:54
On Tue, 2 Mar 1999, szalemandre wrote: > > Why mp3s are really the way to go: > > i completely support this idea of "media-less" content. (it's not really > media-less since it sits on a hard drive, which is a medium.) but the > problem with mp3's is bandwidth. The problem I have with mp3 (and I use 'em, love 'em trade 'em etc) is the same problem I have with all digital storage -- once the decoding technology goes obsolete and people stop maintaining the decoders, you have media with no way to extract the content! Suppose 10 years ago I'd written the great american novel on my Commodore Vic 20 and saved it on a cassette? What chance will someone in 20 years have of decoding that? Art retains it's relevence long after the milieu from which it arises is dead and gone. Any medium for storing art ought to be accessible indefinitely. Not a promise computer media can safely make. The Dead Sea Scrolls were written on homemade paper 2k years ago, and they're still readable for the most part. One can only hope that 'modern' digital media will eventually reach that standard of usability in one tenth that amount of time.