It's a huge challenge: how to store digital files so that future generations can access them, from engineering plans to census records to family photos. The documents of our time are being recorded as bits and bytes with no guarantee of readability down the line. And as technologies change, we may find our files frozen in forgotten formats. Popular Mechanics magazine asks, "Will an entire era of human history be lost?"
The article quotes Ken Thibodeau, head of the National Archives and Records Administration's Electronic Records Archive (ERA). The National Archives is charged with the task of preserving all historically relevant documents and materials generated by the federal government-everything from White House e-mails to the storage locations of nuclear waste.
The entire article sounds a bit alarmist to me, but still it is interesting reading. You can find it at http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4201645.html.
