[Andrew Stephens]

I thought this was an excellent project

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7886754.stm

A universal emulator and reader for every computer file format ever created, which will allow the recovery of old (50's 60's and 70's files that we have simply lost the ability to read.

It's a weird problem, and unique to our age that old data can simply be lost through the inability to access old file formats. It seemed to me it was one way that we had not really fully come to terms with the digital age we were now living in.

OXO

[voodoo]

Yeah I approve of this project too -- it is quite ambitious, but I'm sure it's possible to pull this off. Emulators have become quite impressive in the last few years.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Andrew Stephens 

A universal emulator and reader for every computer file format ever created, which will allow the recovery of old (50's 60's and 70's files that we have simply lost the ability to read.

Software is only one part of the problem.

The much bigger problem is finding hardware capable of reading the old data storage devices. Try to find a tape recorder that can be connected to a current day Mac. Or a 3" floppy disk.

-t

[analogika]

Originally Posted by turtle777 

Try to find a tape recorder that can be connected to a current day Mac.

Any ordinary tape recorder will do. Hook it up to the audio input and record it.

There is software that can decode those audio streams into binary format.

(btw, the vice versa works excellently - I have a number of devices that require "tape storage" for saving patches: I've been recording, archivin and sending back those patch dumps from the Mac for years now with no problems at all.)

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by analogika 

Any ordinary tape recorder will do. Hook it up to the audio input and record it.

LOL, ok. So no problems with audio tapes.

But various floppy formats, punch cards or data tapes (non-audio format) still present a problem.

I'm not saying it's impossible, but those readers are not produced any more. So once the old ones break or get lost, there will be no replacements.

-t

[Dakar V]

I tried to get some art files from high school off some floppies, but it turns out the external usb floppy drive couldn't read DS/DD disks. Annoying...