ROM Cartridges. Lifespan, and other tidbits

[Swift Griggs]

Well, after discussing all things that can go wrong with a floppy disk to
corrupt or destroy it, it makes me wonder about another vintage media
format: the cart.  

How long will they last?

Why does blowing on them help? (mosture? cleaning action?)

Are some better than others in terms of longevity?

Can they be refurbished ?

Remember when folks would publish apps on carts to enhance the copy
protection ?

Remember the ones like Starfox for the SNES that had coprocessors embedded
on them? Those were neat. 

Seen the crazy prices for rare Neo Geo carts? $400 bucks for "Twinkle Star
Sprites" ? Sure!

I have some 90's consoles in my collection and I fondly remember a few
systems that took carts that family and friends owned back in the 80's and
90's.  I thought the Colecovision Adam was awesome.  My cousin had one and I
was so jealous.  The C64, 80's 8bit Atari PCs, the IBM PC Jr, and others all
had cartridge ports, too.

-Swift