Will I be able to watch my stuff in the future?

[Albertosaurus Rex]

That's a pretty vague title, so I'll explain myself. My grandmother recently came up with some old films; we're talking about those big rolls of tape in a tin can from the sixties. Obvioisly, very few people today have the equipment to actually play these things, and my grandmother didn't have anymore. Luckily, my dad found a store where they transfer these films to DVD, so he brought them there and we got to watch some old videos starring my father as a toddler.

The point of this little anecdote is that technology is changing faster than ever before. Those big tapes eventually gave way to things like the VHS, which gave way to DVD which is being replaced by BluRay, which will probably be (I'm quoting somebody else here) "the last physical media we will ever see." I will proably be able to play DVDs for at least 10 more years, but after that?

Likewise for gramophone records, casette tapes and CDs. And as anyone who worked with computers for a reasonable length of time knows, the older a program is, the less chance of getting it to work. It might be a program made for DOS or an older version of Windows, or a game for a discontinued console. Sure, there are emulation communities, but you still have to jump through some hoops. Likewise, some file formats are no longer supported.

And now there are are e-books. Aside from just liking the feel of a physical book, I am sure you can see where this is going. It all makes me a little nervous. If I buy any entertainment product (film, tv series, e-book, etc), how long will I be able to use it? In the case of books, I'll keep buying physical books for as long as possible, but are my DVDs going to be worth anything in the future?

[Mervi]

Very good questions. I'm still in the middle of "converting" my VHS collection to DVDs, that is - trying to choose which ones I actually want to keep watching and trying to find them on DVD. No way I'm jumping to the bluray boat!

['thul]

yes. it is a good point there... 'thul recently tried installing the old computer game "warcraft II" on a win7 64bit computer, and discovered that the remnants of DOS required for it to work had been removed... only through using an overly complex set of modifying programs that 'thul barely half understood could they get it working...

There will always be a few around the world capable of showing/using the older stuff, but as time moves on, they will be further and further between, and it will get more and more expensive to get such converted...

[Albertosaurus Rex]

Are you familiar with Dosbox? It helped me replay some good old games. (Rayman! Lands of Lore 2!)

[joost]

Likewise for gramophone records, casette tapes and CDs.

Vinyl is coming back. More and more new things are released on vinyl again. And I actually bought a few tapes awhile ago, and I know several (I admit rather obscure) bands which only release stuff on tape.

[redchild]

Fortunately I think technology is finally at the point where it is possible to store backup copies cheaply and efficiently (unlike, say, ten years ago.) Many people are also converting older media into digital. Things are probably going to be very different this century onward as most media from the 20th century has been analog. Digital storage is a lot safer as many copies can be stored in multiple locations.

The way technology is evolving, I don't think there will be a problem conserving and converting digital media to be compatible with future media players. It's more of a challenge to preserve/restore the older analog stuff: things stored in hard copies that are prone to decay like old film and casettes. CDs, DVDs, and Blu-Ray discs won't last forever either, but most of the content has probably already been digitized and shouldn't be too difficult to find a copy.

['thul]

these beings tried using dosbox... but since the user the game was installed for is 7 years old, it was too complex...

[Liquid Ice]

Just burn the DVD files to your computer, convert them if needed, download some software like VLC Portable and store it all on a disc. I suppose computers could go past the days of needing an EXE file or something... but the internet will always find a way.

[Nuytsia]

No wonder libraries archive things on microfiche!

I haven't really had a problem with entertainment products...... they seem to release new copies of things on the new formats so you could just buy a new one (ooooh they're clever at making new ways to get money aren't they!)