On Sun, 30 Apr 2006 14:26:06 +0100, Bob W <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Will there be a program, a software piece able to read the PEFs or
> DNGs or JPGs or TIFFs in 25 years?
Boris, you are not going to go to sleep like Rip Van Winkle,
and wake up in 30 years to find that JPEGS are history.
You'll see a new format
introduced (if it is), and make new copies of your CDs in the
new format.
It is inconceivable that a new format would be introduced
without a way to convert existing formats to it. When PNG
came out, all regular imaging software embraced it.
the problem is, though, that you will probably have to maintain an
unbroken
chain of conversions for however long you want to keep the files. This
involves cost, either as work or as money, for each conversion. For large
collections of photographs the cost may be quite significant. Since none
of
us can read the future we are betting that at the time when the next
conversion becomes due we will be able to afford to convert a growing
collection.
I came to the conclusion a long time ago that decent prints are likely
to be
the best way to ensure the long(-ish) term survival of photographs,
although
I haven't actually done much about it since prints of that quality and
longevity also involves a lot of cost.
The only other possibility that might have a viable future is online
storage
similar to that that Google offer (or may offer soon). If storage online
is
cheap enough and secure enough, some company will offer it as a long-term
archive for things like photos. They will take care of conversions
transparently to the user, and economies of scale will make it
profitable.
I think you're overstating the problem. JPEGs have been around for longer
than most people have owned a computer, and TIFFs for longer still (PEFs
may disappear, so saving them as TIFFs is good for the long term). It's
quite likely that JPEGs and TIFFs will still be going strong for the next
thirty years, if not longer, and even if they aren't, more than one change
in that time seems highly improbable. Think of the resistance from people
with an investment in existing file formats.
Personally, I use the hard disks in my computer for storage, plus a copy
on a large portable hard-drive which can be taken off-site. I just don't
have time for CDs and DVDs; retrieval is a nightmare. Cheap off-line
back-up is a nice idea, though.
The problem with image storage is not the technology or the formats, but
devising a good indexing system, and sticking to it. If you can't find a
particular image out of the 100s of 1,000s you have stored, what's the
point of storing them?
John
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