How long will they last?

Yes, "bit rot" is a indeed an actual problem for cartridges and machines that use EPROMs. I've been collecting Atari 2600 and other videogame cartridges for a while now and collectors in that community have been dealing with it for a while. I'm not an electrical engineer, but as I understand it, it's not an actual problem with the hardware of the machine itself. It's just that the magnetic alignment in the EPROM (erasable programmable read only memory) disintigrates. However if you have a backup of the chip, it can be re-programed using an EPROM burner. I know that for Atari 2600 cartridges, only prototype and low-quality 3rd party cartridges were made with EPROMs in them. I'd be surprised if any machines actually use EPROMs to store the ROM kernels, but perhaps they do. If so, a list of affected machines should be made. Perhaps I should crack open the cases on the machines in my collection when I go back to Texas and see if any of them have EPROMs in them. I've always wondered about the use of electrolytic capacitors in computers. I believe that these buggers go bad after a while and need to be replaced. Is this true? I've also always been concered about floppy disks going bad. Do they have a definately lifespan? If so, it might be hard to find new 5.25", 8" or 3.25" (a la Amstrad) disks on which to copy ailing files. chris starling