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| Media only lasts as long as the format it is stored on stays clean, usable, and functional platforms are around to be able to view it on. |
No matter what generation of technology comes along, the vast majority of it is viewed as being the latest and the greatest, the sleekest and the fastest, with promises of life enhancing aspects bundled with a hefty price tag. But even if you're somebody who doesn't frequent a lot of second hand stores, or has any interest in retro technology, I'm pretty sure you've noticed that a lot of the technology that was even prevalent in your youth is rarely seen to day in any large capacity.
Physical and mechanical ways of storing and creating media have begun to give way to aspects like purely digital media accessible on platforms or so long as your interactive device of choice keeps on running.
Since the earliest cave paintings, humanity has strived to tell our story. Whether it was just the simple handprint statement left behind on many rock walls or someone uploading a vacation video to YouTube, the thought process is still the same.
I was here. I want to leave something behind to be remembered by.
Growing up in the 70s, older members of my family had large collections of 8-tracks, vinyl records, and audio cassettes. I didn't see my first VCR until around 1983. It only enhanced the interest I had in how audio and visual media came into creation. I wondered how television shows could be shown in reruns. I wondered how TV stations were able to broadcast audio and video signals over the air to the television in my parent’s house.
The 1980s were a wild time as many kids myself included were raised on a lot of television and a lot of entertainment devices. My mother's interest as an amateur photographer got me into photography. I was obsessed with the negatives and how her 110 film camera worked.
As time went on with the advent of more advanced equipment and technology, music and video came in smaller and faster packages and methods of delivery. Along the way I kept adding to my collection of recording devices. I loved being able to film and capture moments and relive them in a way. Most of the older people in my family had large photo albums, with names written alongside dates of the photos on the back. It always seemed like such a cool way to capture something permanently. To never forget a birthday, a holiday, a favorite pet, or somewhere amazing that you would visit. It was even better if you had video of any of those.
But sometime in college as I watched computers begin to be adapted to the industries of design and art that I had hoped to work in, I realized that more and more media was being created but that storage and accessibility could someday become a problem. I used to use zip disks, to keep a lot of artwork on, and many of those things failed. Burning to CD's was an option, but not always the best or more dependable way to do it.
It was at this time that I began to wonder about a lot of the old VHS tapes in my collection. Both commercially made ones as well as many that I had recorded events from my life on. My family still had a working VCR at the time, so I took some of the cassettes out of storage and played them. Much to my disappointment and surprise, many of them were beginning to show signs of degradation. I'd kept them in a box away from the sun, away from heat and moisture. I didn't know why the picture didn't seem so clear or why the audio had issues.
Fast forward many years, and we as a species create more digital media in one day, than anyone could possibly comprehend. To the point of it being so endless an output, that issues of storage or even ever interacting with it again, becomes a truth we face.
This is even more problematic when dealing with legacy media.
Not a lot of it was made with the idea in mind that it would last beyond 20 to 30 years. Even some of the mediums that managed to hold off time such as old photographs that are 70 years and older, can fall victim to the passage of time.
Because of that I decided to learn more and provide a service that helps people get digital versions of a lot of their older media. I'm someone that obsesses over the electronics I own, the media I created, and I am all too aware of what it feels like to lose irreplaceable images and video.
Within the next 10 to 20 years, with the exception of probably a handful of retro enthusiasts, most all the media formats from our youth will be rare and obsolete.
If you feel that something you have recorded is worth saving for future generations, or even your golden years, then I might be able to help in some way.
