The Digital Dark Ages

Here’s a good overview of an issue I’ve discussed a lot of times with people : the looming Digital Dark Ages, where electronic records – unlike paper-based records – become unreadable after only a few years. It’s all because of the different ways technology is heading.
Just think of all the emails being sent around the world which are being deleted. In the old days; all mail was written on paper, and many of it is still around to give us an insight into everyday life from way back then. Now, unless you print it out (albeit with unstable ink) your grandkids are never going to see any of the love emails you’ve sent in the past; the instant messages about how people felt about Australia winning the cricket, the diary entries about how we’re going to lose track of our electronic records in the future…