26 May
2014
26 May
'14
3:59 a.m.
On Sat, 24 May 2014 13:34:33 -0700, Chuck Guzis <cclist at sydex.com> wrote:
On 05/24/2014 01:07 PM, Paul Koning wrote:
What I'd worry about is an error or omission in the imaging process which
is not detected or maybe not even detectable at imaging time. If the data
is obscure and there are no running or emulated systems which dealt with it
available, there may be no way of verifying that a correct and complete image
has been obtained.
Even an analogue representation of the data may suffer from this problem and
some years down the line it could be discovered that some vital parameter has
not been preserved and the original media is no longer available.
On the other hand, we cannot stop media from deteriorating so having any sort
of an image of the contents is more helpful than relying solely on the
original media.
Regards,
Peter Coghlan.
Thats one level of abstraction. Another
possibility would be to
view digital data as analog, which of course it actually is, and
capture it at that level. It would take more specilized hardware to
do that, and the files would be a great deal larger, but it would
also capture detail that a digital representation hides. For
example, damaged spots might be recoverable if that is done.
Something like the DSP based tape drive Paul Pierce built (if I
remember that one right) would be a way to capture old media at that
level.
That might be useful if the tape couldn't be successfully read using
conventional means, but in cases where the tape reads BOT-to-EOT
correctly, there's no additional information to be obtained and the
extra effort is of little value.