Electronic publication

[Kenelm Philip]

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> BUT most importantly, I find one of my biggest frustrations in dealing
> with really old book is that the painted pictures are now way off from
> the original colors.

> Sorry, I will bet any money any one wants that in 100 years our CDs will
> still have the texts and photos _exactly_ as the day they were first
> published, while the paper copies will no longer be the same.

        I have several books between 181 and 100 years old, and the color
figures are all in excellent condition (butterflies and moths). The same
is true for other books whose ages run from 99 to 75 years. In general I
have been impressed at just how well old books hold up--when some care
has been taken with them.

        As for CDs, I agree their files will not change their image colors
as long as they are readable, but consider the following:

a) CDs require care as well as books, and CDs exposed to heat and chemicals
may become unreadable. (Some music CDs have already become unreadable owing
to poor production methods.)

b) Since CDs cannot be read without specialized machinery, there will be
less urge to treat them carefully than there is with books, which can be
appreciated by the unaided eye.

c) I would expect that within 100 years or less, CDs will be unreadable
for lack of the machinery. My wife has a stack of IBM cards with data--
tried to find a working card reader recently? It's probable that within
20 years the CD will have vanished from the scene, and data files will
be stored on some totally different medium.

d) The image colors on CDs may still be in error, as anyone who has played
around with digital cameras can attest.

                                                        Ken Philip