Screw Drivers and PDF Files

[Jan-Benedict Glaw]

On Sat, 2005-06-04 01:14:10 +0100, Tony Duell <ard at p850ug1.demon.co.uk> wrote:

> > There are only a very few methods that are currently accepted as packaged
> > scanned documents.  Only one method is considered universal, PDF's.
> 
> In your opinion. Actually, it doesn't matter if a format is considered to 
> be universal, only that both sender and receiver agree on it. 

That's not the point. With classic computers, we've seen clever
technologies showing up and getting lost again. Being a German guy, I
just remember *very well* that there are a lot of tapes that are
basically lost forever because after the reunification of our both
Germanies, alot of hardware and software was just thrown away (because
the GDR models just weren't "up to date".

So the point is to *preserve* hard hand-made work in an easy accessible
format that can easily be transcoded to what's considered state of the
art  at a given time.

The problem with preserving content isn't three-dimensional, but a
four-dimensional one. That's why I don't think in only preserving
scanned pages, but also in eg. preserving tape contents, disk contents,
CD/DVD contents, ...

So it's about

	* getting the data off the media (and be it paper), hopefully in
	  the lowest-level format allowed by it.
	* storing the data in a well-known format which is fully
	  understood and documented.
	* At any time, add filters from the initially read-out format to
	  what's understood best right now.

MfG, JBG

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