Data, Data--what to do with the Data?

Data, Data—what to do with the Data?

Theodor Seuss Geisel, known to most of us as Dr. Seuss, was an active author when my children were for real "children," and his "My Book about ME" was available to them when they were of the age, so to speak.  Unfortunately their dad had not discovered his historical bent at that time, something that would have to wait until he grew much older and began writing his own book about me, i.e., his autobiography (see Amazon for details,) in 2016 or so, and because of this any writing that may have occurred as a result of the Seuss book’s influence on the children was not realized for the importance that it may have had at the time and was not saved for that Geddes history that has yet to be written.  This is an error that need not be made in perpetuity, though, and this brief essay will definitely be passed on to the Geddes clan for their use (or not) as the case may be.  I hope they “get the hint,” and can only say I wish the hint had been passed down earlier (say, to ME?) in this family’s history.

That being said, what do you suppose today’s “Morningbrain” entry might consist of?  Well, we will not go into the subject to the depth that I hope will be my wont in the future.  I will simply state the obvious, that such work can and should be preserved for the family of the future.  And how might this be done?

Well, today’s technology leaves several options, some more durable than others.  In this case, today, I am typing on my trusty HP laptop, which laptop has recently been pronounced (by HP) as being in danger of lacking the support of its parent company should problems develop in the future.  Why is this, you say?  Well, technology waits for no man and what was a good thing ten years ago, or so, no longer is that sustainable.  Newer equipment is both faster, and able to store much more than this old standby will be able to do and the newer equipment is still not all that much more expensive than was what I am typing on today.  Should I upgrade?  Well, probably. 

In the mean time, what are my options?  Well, the first thing to do is to save what I already have created and, while there are a number of options here, some are probably better than others. 

We have the paper option, print out what we want to save and keep the material secured somewhere for those of the future to find.  Now, if you have taken a few thousand pix in the recent past, you will probably not want to exercise this method of data maintenance.  Sure, it may make sense for some things, that autobiography, for instance, but all those pictures?  I think not.

Then there is the thumb drive option.  Thumb drives and other data storage devices are available, and they seem to be getting less expensive as time wears on.  The only problem is one of durability.  It seems the magnetic material that is used to save the data has a bit of a longevity problem itself.  What is here today, may not be here tomorrow, so to speak.  Probably another idea that is not in our best long-term interests.

Then there is the cloud.  While the cloud may provide a long term solution to data storage, it depends on others to the extent that costs could go up, even multiply, as time goes on.  It also may depend on things like our political parties.  Do we really want to save our thoughts, hopes, and dreams in a place that may or may not be available in the future?  What might happen if our “leaders” get us involved big time in a war? 

Then, again, take another angle on this:  Look at prescription prices, for example.  What used to seem reasonable, cost wise, today is becoming someone else’s way to part you and large portions of your money, if, that is, you want to stay alive.  For my money, that cloud is not a very good idea. 

Finally, for today’s purpose, I will go to some good old fashioned plastic storage.  Ah,yes, data discs! The plastic is relatively durable (it can be protected using fireproof boxes in the home) and the data itself, once burned into the plastic with our friendly home disc creation devices (and yes, my old HP laptop has its own attached device, complete with laser, that should work just fine.)  Well, there we have it.  Data discs are my method of choice for my data and pix.  Now, the only thing I have to do is review file after file and pic after pic to determine which will be saved.  Quite a job for me.  For you?  Just do it.  Your family will appreciate your work for years to come, I suspect.  And you will sleep easier knowing your work, while not currently appreciated as you might like, will, at least, be available to those minions of the future who may call you granddad, or the granddad of my granddad, or….  Well, you get the picture.  (I hope.)

We’ve come a long way from that dah-di-dah-dah etc, I learned as a boy scout.  Good or bad, that’s just the way things are.

SVGeddes; 2018-10-16