• Sanctus@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Whoopsie! History just slips through your fingers like sand sometimes, huh?

    Complete incompetence that it wasn’t digitized already.

      • ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org
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        4 months ago

        I don’t think tapes degrade that fast. Yes, the quality will get slightly worse but it can be played until it becomes too brittle.

        • vortic@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          Video tape isn’t really that durable over time. Most of the info I can find comes from digitization services, but they are fairly consistent in saying that, for tapes that are stored in “normal” conditions, you can expect 10-25% degradation in 20 years. These tapes are 40 years old. They have likely degraded significantly already and may fall apart when played.

          • Sanctus@lemmy.world
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            4 months ago

            These bad boys have been screaming for preservation since the 90’s tbh. There’s no reason this shouldn’t be public domain. Its our history, its computer history.