Stumbled across this article.
here
By JoAnne Purtan
March 14, 2006
Many people save their digital pictures on CD thinking theyll last a lifetime. Your memories may, but the quality of your pictures could be diminished in just a few years.
The report comes from PC World Magazine. They talked to a physicist and storage expert from IBM and what they report may have you thinking twice about how you store your pictures.
Elizabeth Copeland and her family spent 9 days on vacation in Hawaii and they have a hundred pictures to forever remember their trip.
Elizabeth downloads the pictures to her hard drive for safekeeping many people then burn those pictures to CD, but it now appears over time those digital photos could fade.
PC World Magazine says home burned CDs are not the same as store bought CDs, they do not have the same protective layers and the data can degrade in as little as 5 years and become impossible to read.
It is not easy to distinguish high-quality burnable CDs from low-quality ones because few companies use life span as a selling point.
Printing your pictures is one recommendation experts have another is to store the photos on an external hard drive
According to the PC World article, magnetic tapes are the best storage option. They can have a life span of 30 to 100 years.
Experts say you can extend the life of a burned CD a bit by storing it in a cool, dark space. Other experts indicate CDs and DVDs can last up to 10 years. The bottom line, dont count on them always being there. Take backup precautions so you dont lose your memories.
here
By JoAnne Purtan
March 14, 2006
Many people save their digital pictures on CD thinking theyll last a lifetime. Your memories may, but the quality of your pictures could be diminished in just a few years.
The report comes from PC World Magazine. They talked to a physicist and storage expert from IBM and what they report may have you thinking twice about how you store your pictures.
Elizabeth Copeland and her family spent 9 days on vacation in Hawaii and they have a hundred pictures to forever remember their trip.
Elizabeth downloads the pictures to her hard drive for safekeeping many people then burn those pictures to CD, but it now appears over time those digital photos could fade.
PC World Magazine says home burned CDs are not the same as store bought CDs, they do not have the same protective layers and the data can degrade in as little as 5 years and become impossible to read.
It is not easy to distinguish high-quality burnable CDs from low-quality ones because few companies use life span as a selling point.
Printing your pictures is one recommendation experts have another is to store the photos on an external hard drive
According to the PC World article, magnetic tapes are the best storage option. They can have a life span of 30 to 100 years.
Experts say you can extend the life of a burned CD a bit by storing it in a cool, dark space. Other experts indicate CDs and DVDs can last up to 10 years. The bottom line, dont count on them always being there. Take backup precautions so you dont lose your memories.