Kasi's Digital Past Blog

In the reading this week, I found the idea that stuck out to me the most was the abundance of digital information in today’s day and age while at the same time there is a chance for scarcity of records in the future. I really thought this was an ironic, but startlingly true thought. Today, we depend so much on technology, from storing our important photos and documents on our personal computers, to doing our banking completely online. On a larger scale, many news articles, scholarly journals and other texts are posted purely online. While this is a great way for them to reach a large audience quickly, it’s a sobering thought to consider what would happen to our information if the internet was no longer able to be used.

Another point that caught my attention in this week’s material was the pdf file on the longevity of digital material. I think this solidifies the idea of a potential for scarcity of records in the future mentioned above because it really shows how fragile digital files are. I think that this week’s material really just brings up the question of just how safe it is to depend on technology and digital files. It’s really an interesting thought process that I think historians are going to have to consider in the coming years, as technology and digital file storage continues to advance and change.

~ by kasibumgarner on November 19, 2012 .