Customer Reviews

Dark Ages II: When the Digital Data Die

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Tom Bergeron is a great writer, and the subject is both important and interesting; so I found myself wondering exactly why I had to keep fliping back and forth to make his points make sense.

The book is entertaining; and he held my interest the entire time, but I kept wondering exactly how all of this related to his point. Up until chapter 6 I wouldn't have been able to tell you what the book was about had it not been printed on the back cover. His editors shouldn't have allowed it to come out before it got some better organization.

I love what I got on his main subject: data preservation and the need for it; I only wish there was more of that and less of the tangentially related stuff that fills out the book.

Good book. Well written. Quick read. I think this book will surprise many readers who think that simply backing up their data is enough. I work in a university library, but didn't have a good idea of how the National Archives and other agencies deal with their intellectual property. The author correctly points out that there is much more to consider when purchasing a backup device than price. There's longevity of media, which isn't as great as I thought it was, especially given that I don't store my archives in a constant temperature/humidity environment, and, more importantly, the compatibility of the hardware. I'm on my third PC, and already can't read some of my early work because I don't have syquest drive on my latest PC. As a result of reading this book, I've changed my archiving process and place little trust in my CD-ROM burner.
This book is a good - and overdue - wakeup call.

Once again, Bryan Bergeron has written a book about technology that most can understand. This latest effort paints a very interesting picture about the proliferation of data that is generated and what happens to it. This book is a must read for anyone that uses a computer and thinks that by storing the information in a file or saving it on a disk will protect it for eternity. By the way, does anyone know the shelf life of my eight track collection?

I enjoyed the book for its overview of the evolution of consumer and telecommunications electronics. I believe, however that the message of the book could be put into one phrase of "save and save often". The book focused mostly on backing up data and keeping the data in the proper and current format. Not much of the apocalyptic doom that the cover and title portrayed, but I suppose a book titled "back up your data" wouldn't sell many copies.

The book is rambling and disorganized. The main point is that you need tested backups and a recovery plan. Too bad that's not what the blurbs say.

I kept waiting to reach the meat, the info on the social impact of all this disappearing data. The author quotes a few stories and talks about disappearing media and no backup disasters. The new admin with no backups sad story. Yes it happens, no one thinks backups are important until a failure, but that's not what this book is advertised about. You may want to point out a chart or story to a senior manager, but there's little of value here for anyone in the IT business.

I thought that if I just backed up my files, I was safe, but read this book and you'll know otherwise. I got this book because in the back of my mind, I worried about all of the digital information floating around and how safe that really was. Well, my fears were confirmed. What I really appreciated about this book is that the author actually gives you advice on what to do about it. This book is an eye opener with practical advice for anyone who uses digital data...just about everyone.