Ooops. What I meant was:
As an example. Every time a document is translated, it reduces its
longevity by 30% -- because each document has only n number of
translations it can endure, just as a paper copy can only be xeroxed a
fixed number of times. But every time you exercise it, it increase its
mortality by 20%.
Writing the above words I realize that what we are dealing with,
particularly from Jaron's real world problems of translating his old
games and VR experiences, is the radical notion that digital products
degrade over generations much like analog copies. That translations are
just that: TRANSLATIONS and not clones or identical copies.
While bits may migrate merrily everywhere in real time, in long time,
they migrate with difficulty and fuzziness.
_________________________________________________________________________
Kevin Kelly
Wired magazine 520 3rd Street San Francisco, CA 94107 USA
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The full text of my book OUT OF CONTROL can be found at
www.absolutvodka.com/kelly/5-0.html