Our own Library of Alexandria is burning as we speak and we
can't see it. I hate when information is lost. I've been
watching the streams of information come and gone on the
Internet since I entered in 1989.
Where's that message I wrote in 1990 on Usenet? I can still find
it. Usenet is a distributed network, with multiple copies on
multiple servers all over the planet. It was designed properly.
Where's that AOL forum message I wrote in 2002? Wiped in 2007
when AOL wiped their "Cloud".
Where's the messages I posted on a BBS in 1995? Only the ones I
backed up on floppy disk, copied to zip drive, then to an
external hard drive through the years.
Now, i go to the library. I see reference books. Books where the
final copy was published in 2007, 2009, 2011, some as early as
2003.
All now online.
Where will those books be in 100 years?
The reference pulp paper books might still exist.
Will the online equivalents be? It's safe to say they won't be
anywhere.
