Bringing JRMES back to life

[mcbishop]

The Doomsday book project on the anniversary of the original collected masses of data, all of which is now only available to read on one or two historic computers!

That has now been sorted out and is available on the web for all to toy with but at great expense, it has to be said, just because the BBC's technology of choice (the laser disc) died and never took off. Nowadays the smart money is always on simple text files that are easily transferable but 'smart' (in the form of some version of XML) which, if push comes to shove, you can print out/etch into basalt/tattoo on your backside to ensure some form of machine-readable longevity... well, until our sun goes supernova, of course ;-) The truth is the safest wisest and best storage policy is both paper and digital, not one or t'other, and each has its strengths (and adherents) but also its faults and weaknesses.

Perhaps a daft question but if everyone reads a Kindle how will authors autograph copies?

It is possible and it's already happening (many ways, but here's one), as are 'virtual' signing tours.

Mike Bishop