Charles Kincaid (3/26/2009)
Here is a proposal. Take 16mm film. Use a LASER on a helical scan to record the data (like the old VTRs did). It is write ONCE. No erase or modification. Modern film stock can sit in reasonable room conditions for over 50 years. You don't change backups once made. Same fire concerns as most other tape like media. Yes, you have to send it out for developing. If this catches on then low cost, on-site processors will become available. (Keep this idea just between us. I'm already consulting my friend. Her name is Pat. Pend.)
Nice! What kind of speed would you (theoretically) expect from this device? I know the laser can keep up...
I am still looking forward to the improvements in the SD technology... they claim to have reached a TB on a single card, and that the read/write speeds are approaching disk speeds. No moving parts. I don't know that I'd trust the durability of the data on these (yet)... but sounds interesting.