Google’s Vint Cerf Warns of “Digital Dark Age”

Creators of all types, whether in businesses or universities, rely on computers for storage of countless documents and images. But computer hardware and software quickly become obsolete, warns Vint Cerf, a Google vice president, and many items could be lost before their value is even recognized. Users often neglect to make backup files, and viruses could destroy documents, too. “Vint Cerf is promoting an idea to preserve every piece of software and hardware so that it never becomes obsolete – just like what happens in a museum – but in digital form, in servers in the cloud,” reports Pallab Ghosh for BBC News. Cerf also advises that standardization in the industry could also ease storage and access. With a fast-evolving tech industry, society’s libraries must preserve the tools to access documents, music, images kept on floppy disks, video cassettes, film, today’s most popular tablets or phones. – YaleGlobal