Њw long does da﬩a on floppy disks la≤⊦?

[kriesel]

Shades of SYM-1. http://www.oldcomputers.net/sym-1.html I still have it, and the box it shipped in. Expansion to a whopping 4K, and a video interface. The Radio Shack cassette unit crapped out in storage; rubber belts failed. I wonder how readable those data-rated cassette tapes are after all this time...

[MooMoo2]

Originally Posted by xilman

Depends greatly on how they have been stored.

Out of the ones I had, 6 were kept in a case, 2 were in a ziplock bag, and the remaining 2 were wrapped in paper towels. None of them were exposed to sunlight or stored outdoors. Humidity levels were usually low, and temperatures varied from 60F/15C to 85F/30C. They weren't exposed to significant magnetic fields, AFAIK.

I'm guessing their half-life is ~30 years when stored under optimal conditions, but that's just a wild ass guess.

On a somewhat related note, I ordered a shipment of M-Discs: https://www.verbatim.com/prod/optica...anded-surface/
last month. They supposedly have a "projected lifetime of several hundred years", but they only have a "10-Year Limited Warranty"

Maybe I have a better chance of seeing the year 2100 than those discs do...

[kriesel]

"M DISC media has a projected lifetime of several hundred years." (Marketing department)
"10-Year Limited Warranty" (Legal department and accounting)

I recall a debate over a large proposal response to an RFP at a former employer. The head beancounter in our department wanted to limit the warranty to one year, even though the RFP REQUIRED a minimum of 2 years for a custom product, and the usual useful lifetimes of previous units delivered were over 20 years.