At 4:30 PM -0700 2/19/98, Robert Spindler wrote:
>What I find more interesting in the discussion is the preoccupation with
>the preservation of texts, rather than preservation of multimedia!
Indeed. Much of the Time & Bits conference was about this very
question---how much harder it is to preserve "dynamic" digital material
versus "static."
In the interests of trying to solve easier problems first, The Long Now
Foundation is taking on the long-term preservation of a static set of
documents---the Golden Canon of great books---in a two-track slow/fast
strategy: deep archived Golden Canon; continually updated and engaged
Living Canon. It's a toy problem and solution, yet an intriguing toy
perhaps.
We would all love it if someone would take on the long-term preservation of
a dynamic digital something. An example that came up in the conference was
Sim City---a very early, important, influential simulation "game." (Many
professional city planners wound up using it.) How can Sim City stay
playable?
This subject deserves its own thread. Jaron Lanier (Mr. Virtual Reality)
is particularly interested in it. Who would like to instantiate a
long-term Sim City or equivalent?