The Economics of Long-Term Digital Storage

2015-07-25 - Business Models / Literature

Paper  as  the  medium  for  the  world’s memory has  one great advantage;  it survives benign neglect well.   Bits, on the other hand, need continual care, and thus a continual flow of money.   A Blue  Ribbon panel described economic sustainability as the major issue facing long-term digital preservation.  This is despite Kryder’s Law, the 30-year history of the cost of digital storage media dropping exponentially. If economics are the major concern even when Kryder’s Law holds, what will happen if it slows or stops?  We present evidence that it will, and some simulations of the  impact on digital preservation costs.[Source]

› tags: data preservation / data storage / service levels /