|
I think this is a bad idea. A really bad one. And it has a simple reason - the lifespan of the information carrier.
A clay tablet or a stone tablet from ancient Egypt or Babylon has been readable 6000 years ago and will be readable in 6000 years if it doesn't break.
Medieval books made from very high-quality paper are readable for hundreds of years.
Modern books made from cheap paper are readable for decades if handled properly.
Newspapers have to be carefully treated in order for them to be readable for more than 10 years. Otherwise they fall apart.
CDs and DVDs may have a lifespan of 50 to 100 years - who knows? Self-burnt disks only a fraction of that time (5-10 years).
Ever tried to read from a 10-year-old floppy disk? Forget it.
And now ebooks? Really? When people from the year 2111 will want to read something from today, will they use the same filetypes we use? Do you use the same filetypes you used 10, 20 years ago? The same devices? Ever tried to install an application on Windows 7 that was designed for Windows 95? Or DOS?
Our modern information carriers are not designed for a lifespan of decades and centuries. They are designed to be fast and use as little space as possible. But remember how fragile all this stuff is. A lot of footage from Apollo 11? Gone! The Metropolis-movie? Many of it lost until a surprise-discovery a few years ago. Would you like to have the great works of mankind be stored in the same way? The declaration of independence of the USA? The Bible? Really?
|