LONG-TERM BACKUPS

Is anything long term these days? That’s the question running through my head after a client inquired about the durability of computer backup media. Cars seem to be lasting longer these days; I recall as a youngster that no car was expected to run 100,000 miles – but many achieve that and more today. Appliances seem to have around the same lifespan nowadays as in yesteryear. But anything related to computers doesn’t seem to last very long at all! Even in situations where the hardware keeps plugging along, there is no way to use it. Take my old HP printer, for example. I think it would work as well today as when I bought it – if I could still buy an ink cartridge for it! Also take a look at my weather station. When I got it I was impressed that it would communicate with my computer and upload numbers to a website in near real time. But it requires a serial com port, which is no longer available on any new PC. Besides that, there are no 64bit drivers for it. So after thinking about it, I’ve concluded “long-term backups” is an oxymoron. Nothing computer related is long-term. That’s just the way it is.