{"id":117965,"date":"2025-03-07T14:42:29","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T14:42:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/entertainment\/art\/digital-preservation\/"},"modified":"2025-03-07T14:42:29","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T14:42:29","slug":"digital-preservation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=117965","title":{"rendered":"Digital Preservation"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n
\"Title<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The Art of Digital Preservation<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

In a world where technology is
\nconstantly evolving, it\u2019s tempting to get swept up in the marketing hype and
\nbuy into the latest and in marketing speak, the greatest technologies. But do
\nyou really need the latest technology for everything that you do and is there a
\ncase to make sure you maintain some of that older technology as a means of
\ndigital preservation? <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This week, we discover some of
\nthe best ways to continue using and accessing your old technology and your collection of
\nfiles and artworks, likely built up over decades. We also take a look at the ethics of digital
\npreservation, the techniques and skills we need to preserve what we do today,
\nand begin to understand why we continue to have such a reliance on using and
\nrevisiting outdated equipment.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"Vintage<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Drive Talkin by Mark Taylor – One of my latest artworks. Each element was individually hand drawn and painted, my usual over the top attention to detail because I love creating this stuff! Who knows, I might be the first artist to have ever painted an RJ45 cable next to a Zip Drive.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

Whenever we head to the stores
\nto pick up the latest technology, the sales and marketing people will use every
\nexcuse in the book to upsell us on the promise of greater battery life, a bit
\nmore zip and a little more zap, but as an artist, there are times when old
\ntechnology is vital to the process of creating our work. <\/span><\/p>\n

Artists frequently have a need
\nto rely on technology, whether it\u2019s to market and sell our work, create it, or
\nwrite up those pesky bio\u2019s that we all seem to avoid writing and rarely ever
\nrevisit. We often use technology to store and preserve our work or research our
\nsubject matter, to order new supplies, or engage with social media or just to
\nrun our business and our lives. <\/span><\/p>\n

Technology today is just as
\nembedded in the art process as the paintbrush. It\u2019s an essential tool and often
\none of the most expensive tools that we have, and it frequently needs to be fed
\nwith upgrades and updates that will either cost us in terms of money, time, or
\nboth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet there are times when we
\nhave a need to revisit older technologies, whether that technology is an old
\nschool film camera because we need that particular grainy look, or whether it\u2019s
\nto revisit files stored on that Zip Drive we invested in way back in the 90s.
\nThe problem is that old isn\u2019t always exactly compatible with new and that can
\nbe problematic if you are looking for a specific aesthetic or you need to go
\nback and find a particular file.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now I\u2019ve bought that shiny new
\nthing, the first thing I need to do right after I\u2019ve finished this thing and
\nthat thing, is to make sure I transfer my old files from my old thing over to
\nthe shiny new format. I think most of us decided to put our older technology in
\nthe attic and we never did quite get around to transferring the old files to
\nnew systems, so the ability to go back and revisit old technology is often a
\nnecessity today rather than being only a nostalgic trip back to the past.<\/span><\/p>\n

Preservation of old and legacy
\ndigital files is challenging and you have to creatively think about how you
\nmight hang on to those old files. Old technology is mostly incompatible with
\nnew technology, but this isn\u2019t simply an issue that blights the preservation of
\nthe past, we\u2019re now beginning to see history repeating itself and we might just
\nbe sleepwalking into an even bigger problem for the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

The digital dream we have been
\nsold over the past decade is to move whatever we can into the cloud, and most
\ncloud services are now badged as being live services which carry ongoing
\nsubscription costs so that we can continue to access our data. We have been
\nsold the benefits of cloud first for at least the past five years and over the
\npast couple of years we have been all in.<\/span><\/p>\n

The pay to play monetisation
\nmodel could become a problem if you\u2019re no longer willing or able to pay for
\naccess, but a greater problem facing the new digital world, is that many of
\nthese live services only remain live while they are financially viable. You
\nmight want to take pause and let that sink in for a moment, it\u2019s not just your
\nability or willingness to pay, it\u2019s the collective ability and willingness and
\nthe willingness of the live service to continue.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you are looking to preserve
\nyour modern day files or even digital purchases, there really are no guarantees
\nthat you will be able to for the long-term if you are completely reliant on a
\nlive service. With old technology the problem today might be around keeping the
\ntechnology alive or transferring files to a new device, but with modern day
\ncloud and live services, the problem is that whatever you purchased or stored
\ntoday, whatever you thought you had digitally preserved, is only ever going to
\nbe accessible while the service you pay for continues to have skin in the game.
\nThat doesn\u2019t mean that your data ceases to exist but it does mean that you will
\nno longer have the ability to access it.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"Abstract<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Planetary Target by Mark Taylor – One of my recent abstracts inspired by the 1980s with a focus on a cloud based future.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

Live services are only live
\nwhile they\u2019re profitable and already this year, we\u2019ve seen very new and very
\nyoung services such as Google\u2019s Stadia shut down, and e-stores from the likes
\nof Nintendo and Sony are no longer available on their older devices. This means
\nthat whatever you purchased in the past, unless you have already downloaded it
\nto some kind of physical storage will no longer be accessible, and if you have
\ndownloaded the file, there is no way to update it. <\/span><\/p>\n

Unlike that Zip drive from
\n1999, there\u2019s very little hope that you can ever retrieve information from
\ncurrent or previous cloud services if those services no longer exist and again,
\nthere\u2019s a question around whether your data continues to exist. <\/span><\/p>\n

For people like me who take
\nthe preservation of old technology and files, probably way too seriously, old
\nnon-cloud based technology and physical media will always have an advantage. If
\nyou are saving your digital artwork in the cloud you really ought to be
\nthinking about preservation of those files in the future and have at least some
\nsort of plan to retrieve those files and move them somewhere else should the
\nlive cloud service you subscribe to ever ceases to exist.<\/span><\/p>\n

Digital preservation isn\u2019t
\njust a present day problem with shuttered cloud services, we were once sold the
\npromise of a digital future that would enable us to forever retrieve our files
\nand our memories in the form of low resolution photographs from our early-era
\ndigital cameras by using physical media such as CD ROMS. Video gamers and music
\nfans have been pushed towards the digital download, but at best, it\u2019s a model
\nbased on Blockbuster. You could say that at best, you\u2019re not really buying
\nanything, you\u2019re simply renting it only while the store front and storage plan remain
\nopen.<\/span><\/p>\n

The promise of a lifetime
\ndigital archive of our best moments should have come packaged with a huge caveat,
\nthe discs will do exactly what it says on the tin so long as you continued to
\nkeep them in museum like temperature controlled environments and never touched
\nthem. No one ever mentioned that the coating of a CD or CD ROM would oxidise or
\nthat poor quality control wouldn\u2019t pick up on the use of cheap solvents and
\nmaterials used to provide a ten pack of blank CDs for the price of a candy bar.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, we know that those
\nindestructible, unless scratched, CD ROMS are prone to disc rot. Yes, they
\nstill look shiny, you looked after them and kept them in their plastic Jewel
\ncase, but that doesn\u2019t matter. Over time, the protective layer of the disc
\nwhich is made from a layer of thin aluminium or other metals, begins to break
\ndown due to temperature and humidity changes. Most that exist today are either
\nin boxes in the garage or the attic and both of those locations are hardly
\nconducive to preservation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another big problem for those
\nof us who still rely on using old technology is leakage. Either the battery in
\nthe device leaks over time or the circuit board of the device begins to oxidise
\nand corrode. Plastics and rubbers break down and essentially turn to mush,
\nfrequently leaving behind a sticky residue that takes great skill and a bottle
\nof isopropyl to remove, often over a period of weeks or months. Once these
\nmaterials begin to break down, there\u2019s very little you can do to stop the rot,
\nalthough you can slow it down which will give you a little more time to properly
\nfigure something more permanent out.<\/span><\/p>\n

As much as I love old
\ntechnology and however much I seem to dedicate my life to preserving it, collecting
\nit and using it, it can be a character building test at times when all you need
\nto do is find that one file from 1996 and display it on a modern day PC.<\/span><\/p>\n

Regular readers will know that
\nI am a huge fan of old technology, my collection includes everything from the
\nfirst 8-bit home computers to a collection of computer and technology magazines
\nfrom the 80s right the way through to the present day. I don\u2019t just collect
\nvintage computers either, if it\u2019s 80s or 90s technology of any description I\u2019m
\nall in, often these devices that have since been forgotten were the very
\nfoundations of everything we take for granted today. <\/span><\/p>\n

Preservation is something I am
\nway more focussed on today than I was back in the 90s, but to do preservation
\nproperly means that you have to invest so much time in making sure that you\u2019re
\nnot introducing new factors that could accelerate the breakdown of the media
\neven further. In my mind, there is no difference between the issues we face as
\nartists with papers containing acids and the digital media which often
\ncontained similar substances.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"painting<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Laser Disc by Mark Taylor – Had so much fun creating this and then I spent almost a week painting a cardboard texture because it looks cool! No arty reasons other than me geek.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

As an artist who has made a
\ncareer out of creating works inspired by the 70s, 80s, and 90s, with many, many
\nlandscape works thrown in to reflect my love of the outdoors, I still use old
\ntechnology almost every day. It\u2019s critical to get that certain look for some of
\nthe commissions I take on, but it also serves the purpose of preserving the
\ntechnology and providing a mechanism to retain even some of my oldest digital
\nworks. <\/span><\/p>\n

Is it challenging? At times,
\nabsolutely, but the real frustration is often not keeping things working, but
\ntransferring old data to new systems and often, completely new and incompatible
\nformats. Is it worth it, absolutely, I would recommend everyone immediately set
\nup an archaeological expedition to the attic.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s also worth keeping those
\nold skills that you might have already started to forget about. Technology is a
\nlot like fashion, it\u2019s cyclical, that\u2019s why we\u2019re seeing a resurgence in people
\nclambering for the distraction free Walkman\u2019s and authors are keen to get their
\nhands on early internet-free word processors.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not suggesting that anyone
\nabandons new technology to replace it and completely rely on something that\u2019s a
\nfew decades or even older, mostly we need to keep on top of the trends not just
\nfor the supposedly better battery life, but because most of what we do these
\ndays means that you have to have the latest operating systems and security
\npatches. If I need to apply for government issued paperwork or do my banking
\nonline, I have to use an app or the latest browser which will often only work
\nif I have the latest operating system and therefore, the latest device to run
\nit on. <\/span><\/p>\n

As I have moved from creating
\nart using more traditional mediums and transitioned to creating primarily
\ndigital work, that means I\u2019m heavily invested in the eco-systems of the big
\ntech giants. Yet, because of the subject matter and the huge amount of research
\nI like to do to accompany every single retro artwork I create, I still have a
\nneed to plug in a 40-year old home computer from time to time. It might be when
\nI create authentic old school pixel art, but sometimes, it\u2019s because the old
\ntechnology lets me do things faster and without any distractions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Call me an hoarder, I think
\nmost people do when they see my collection, but there is good reason to hold on
\nto your old technology. Not least that at some point in the future it will
\nofficially celebrate its turning retro birthday and will inevitably become at
\nleast as valuable as the price you originally paid for it, well in most cases,
\nbut also because there could be a time when the files you have stored on the
\ndevice might once again be needed. There are other reasons that you might not
\nconsider at the time you make the decision to either sell it, dispose of it or
\ngive it away.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because you have personal data
\nstored on it\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n

There are more than a couple
\nof reasons for not just throwing out old technology. If you have any personal
\ndata stored on it even if you can\u2019t access it, that doesn\u2019t mean someone else
\ncan\u2019t access it. That password you used for Myspace which you still use today
\nis the digital equivalent of your house keys, your bank balance, and probably
\nyour entire modern day online life. If you have used technology for a while, I
\ncan almost guarantee that your passwords haven\u2019t evolved quite as quickly as
\nthe devices you are using them on.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because, the environment\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n

There\u2019s an environmental
\nproblem facing humanity that\u2019s not being helped by our appetite for bigger and
\nbetter. We\u2019re all guilty of this even unconsciously, and virtue signalling by
\ndisplaying a save the planet poster and doing little else shows just ironic
\nhumans can be. Trust me when I tell you that there are many people who will
\nfind some use from a forty year old computer, you just think there\u2019s very
\nlittle benefit in going there because up to date and shiny is suddenly the new
\nbest thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your memories are stored
\nwithin the silicon\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n

You early memories might only
\nexist on the hard drive attached to the Windows 3.1 PC gathering dust in your
\nattic. Wouldn\u2019t it be great to dig out those very first digital photos taken on
\nyour very first low-pixel digital camera that you were once so proud to own?<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s your artistic legacy\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n

As an artist, your early work
\nis often some of your best work, although we never realise this until years
\nlater when we have become less free in our craft. After years of being
\ninfluenced by thousands of other artists and seeing our skills leap to higher
\nlevels, often our early works provide a much better insight into what
\noriginally ushered us into our work. Going back and revisiting my older works
\nreminds me of everything that made me want an art career in the first place.<\/span><\/p>\n

You might not think that your
\nearly work is to the standard you meet today, but that\u2019s kind of the point. How
\nelse can you measure your own progress? It\u2019s also worth bearing in mind that in
\nsome cases, those earliest works could become increasingly desired and valuable
\nto collectors. I recently sold a work I created in 1992 and am now curating a
\ncollection of works I produced in the mid-90s with the intention of recreating
\nthem with modern tools.<\/span><\/p>\n

The technology could be more
\nvaluable than you think\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/h3>\n

You have old technology
\ngathering dust in the attic but it\u2019s still somehow in the original box, well,
\ngiven the huge increase in the number of people now getting into the retro
\ncollecting hobby that original iPhone, old Motorola 8800, Tandy TRS-80 or if
\nyou\u2019re really lucky, any early Apple computer that you might have taking up
\nspace, could be worth much more than you think. You might want to think about
\ngetting that kind of technology serviced and maybe even insured or gift it to
\nmy backlog of technology that I\u2019m slowly working on bringing back to life!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"goldfish<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Galactic Feline Goldfish by Mark Taylor – I wanted to create something different and then I was asked to create a commission to create something different. The galaxy works in mysterious ways!<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

I touched on some of the
\ntechnical problems that you will often find with old equipment earlier, gadgets
\ncan be prone to all sorts of environmental factors that compromise the
\nintegrity of the electronics and the cases or the data. But it\u2019s worth
\nremembering that at one time, humans built things to last and even as recently
\nas the 1990s, we still had manufacturers that were proud of the products they
\nput onto the market and many of them hadn\u2019t as yet contemplated outsourcing
\nmanufacturing to the cheapest mass production facility where quality assurance
\nand standards can only be described as almost non-existent. <\/span><\/p>\n

The issue we face today is
\nthat paying a premium price for new technology is no guarantee that the goods
\nare going to be premium quality. I\u2019m convinced that goods are solely designed
\nto be replaced at exactly one day after the warranty expires and even relying
\non big brands doesn\u2019t change this, many of the brands we knew and trusted in
\nthe past have been wound down and consumed into mass manufacturing operations
\nthat produce generic products with those old but well known once-premium labels
\nand brands written on them. <\/span><\/p>\n

That said, there are plenty of
\nexamples where the modern day equivalent is built with better quality
\ncomponents but that\u2019s usually as a result of the components being refined over
\nthe years to become more reliable, less expensive or both. There are plenty of
\nexamples where the old equipment was never as reliable as we remember it, but
\nthere are plenty of examples where the old technology has been proven to
\noutlast anything built today. <\/span><\/p>\n

The good news is that most of
\nthe old technology that you might have sitting in the attic that hasn\u2019t seen a
\npower source in three decades can be made to function just as, or better than
\nit did when you refurbish it with modern replacement components. <\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s also surprising at just
\nhow often new old stock comes up for sale on market places such as eBay. Often
\nit will have been stored away and remained untouched and it\u2019s not always
\nexpensive. Today, I frequently purchase floppy discs for around the same price
\nI paid for them when they were being used by everyone.<\/span><\/p>\n

I still own working Commodore Amiga
\ncomputers, I use them frequently to create artworks with applications such as
\nDelux Paint, the original precursor to Photoshop and produced by Electronic
\nArts who are better known for creating Madden and FIFA video games today.
\nThere\u2019s no comparison between Delux Paint and Photoshop, Delux Paint didn\u2019t
\nhave layers and had almost none of the functionality that Photoshop offers
\ntoday, but it does have the ability to create truly authentic pixel art that is
\nalmost impossible to replicate on modern day equipment or applications and
\nwithout Delux Paint, I\u2019m not sure that we would even have Photoshop today.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"Linear<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Into the Blue by Mark Taylor – I originally created a version of this in 1993 on the Commodore Amiga. The new file was created using Procreate on an M2 iPad Pro with refinements created within Photoshop. All hand drawn with a stylus. If you buy a print of this, consider the acrylic block because those colours really pop with some backlighting!<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of yesterdays forgotten
\ntechnology can be brought back to life to provide many more years of use, you
\ncan often find modern replacement components if you do have to carry out some
\nfirst aid, and in some cases you can find components such as FPGA (Field
\nProgrammable Gate Array) chips that can become a direct hardware level
\nsurrogate which can reliably act as an old computer or device by replicating
\nthe old technology directly on-board the chip.<\/span><\/p>\n

One thing I would always
\nrecommend is to replace older power supplies with modern ones. There are a lot
\nof manufacturers who can still supply a power supply that has been built within
\nmodern day safety regulations, and using a new power supply means that you are
\nless likely to find other issues when you power on an older device.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you do use old power
\nsupplies, always check the plug. Wires work loose over the years and these
\ncould present a fire risk, for the sake of a few minutes it could save a major
\nheadache. It\u2019s also worth checking online forums including platforms such as
\nReddit. If you are using the old equipment there will almost certainly be a community
\nof people doing the same thing and they will have documented most of the issues
\nthat they will have found when powering it up for the first time in decades.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are a heap of reasons
\nwhy we still like to use old technologies instead of shiny new technologies
\ntoday. More often than not it comes down to it being a nostalgic anchor to the
\npast, but there are practical reasons too, and the use of old technology in
\nmodern businesses is much more widespread than you might think. Alongside the
\ntechnology of yesterday, there are plenty of good reasons to keep popular past
\nprogramming languages alive and if you are serious about preservation of past
\ntechnology and formats, the old programming languages are going to be incredibly
\nuseful but also those old programming languages are becoming incredibly useful
\nin supporting businesses that rely on legacy systems.<\/span><\/p>\n

Being what some might call a
\ndinosaur, I still continue to use my old technology to produce authentic pixel
\nart and to preserve my older works but also because I still have a need to use
\nsome legacy software that has never been bettered in the years since it was
\noriginally released, and more often, when modern day replacements just haven\u2019t
\nbeen created, and I\u2019m not alone. <\/span><\/p>\n

In the past year I have been
\nasked so many times to help keep legacy systems up to date, or as up to date as
\nthey can be. There are examples of old Atari computers being used to manage
\nbooking systems for a camping site, and the financial industry still utilise
\nold programming languages such as COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language), which
\nwas first introduced in 1959 to run critical business systems such as payroll
\nand billing. <\/span><\/p>\n

Fortran is still used in the
\nscientific sector particularly in fields such as physics, chemistry, and
\ngeology.\u00a0 <\/span>C and C++ are two programming
\nlanguages that have been around since the 1970s and are still widely used
\ntoday. C is a general-purpose programming language that is used for system
\nprogramming, embedded systems, and game development, among other things. C++ is
\nan extension of C and is used for similar purposes as well as for developing
\nlarge-scale applications, such as operating systems and video games.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lisp is a very well matured
\nprogramming language that was first developed in the late 1950s. It is still
\nused today in many areas of artificial intelligence and machine learning as it
\nhas powerful features for manipulating and processing data. If there is one
\nlanguage that might need to become better supported in the future, I have a
\nfeeling that Lisp is on the list as AI continues its mission to take over the
\nworld. <\/span><\/p>\n

Assembly language is a
\nlow-level programming language that has been around since the early days of
\ncomputing. It is still used today in applications that require direct access to
\nhardware, such as device drivers, embedded systems, and real-time systems, and
\nit is critical within some industrial processes. <\/span><\/p>\n

This is one of the legacy
\nlanguages that I continue to use so I can create new applications on vintage
\nhome computers and it\u2019s a really useful language to understand when working
\nwith emulation. It\u2019s efficient and its ability to directly access hardware
\nmeans that applications don\u2019t have the overhead which is at a premium with old
\nsystems. It\u2019s also a great way to become a more efficient programmer, a lost
\nart that has meant that modern day applications use much more overhead and
\npower to do some of the basic things you need to do when programming.<\/span><\/p>\n

BASIC is another language
\nstill used in some educational settings as an introduction to teaching
\nprogramming concepts. Its simplicity and ease of use make it a good choice for
\nbeginners who are just starting to learn programming. It is a language I have
\nargued long and hard over in academic circles to be integrated more in school
\ncurriculums as it is one of the fundamental building blocks that underpins
\nevery modern language that has emerged since.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"painting<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
I Want My MP3 by Mark Taylor – The original MP3 Players had batteries that could be replaced, held charge for days, and were indestructible. That’s progress I guess… Once again, this is all hand drawn and painted using a stylus. Total creation time was around 9 hours.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

Bringing old technology back
\nto life is one thing, there is very little that can\u2019t be repaired or refreshed
\nthese days with varying degrees of effort, but getting it to talk to modern
\nequipment is possibly going to be the most challenging task you will have to
\novercome. <\/span><\/p>\n

Independent retailers are
\ngoing to be your best bet in finding old mediums, if you go into a big box
\nchain store it\u2019s unlikely the staff will have enough knowledge or experience to
\nhelp you figure out what you need to do to transfer old files or replace components.<\/span><\/p>\n

With a growing trend towards
\nrevisiting older technologies, there are now plenty of small home based
\nbusinesses and enterprises that have created entire micro-industries in
\ncreating the components, cables and mediums that you need to make the old talk
\nto the new, and a lot of one time hobbyists in the vintage technology space
\nhave come up with really useful inventions that have turned their hobbies into
\nfully fledged international businesses.<\/span><\/p>\n

That tangled mess of cables in
\nthat one drawer that you never open is worth maintaining. If you want to
\nrevisit old technology, replacing old cables can be one of the biggest expenses.
\nI recently came across a cable that allowed you to connect an old games console
\nto a composite connection on the TV. You could have picked these up for a few
\npounds or dollars even a couple of years ago, the price attached to the one I
\nsaw in a retailer recently was \u00a3150 or $187 US because everyone had a clear out
\nand most of these cable were thrown away.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you plan on using any kind
\nof vintage technology then it\u2019s worth holding on to any cables that you do have.
\nThe only cable I would say is safe to throw away would be the old Apple 30-pin
\nconnector, but if you have an original iPhone, even that cable could add to the
\nalready high value that the original iPhones attract. <\/span><\/p>\n

USB cables, whether they are the
\nmini, micro, or the lesser used Micro-B cables will be useful for connecting
\nvideo cameras from the early millennium years. Display port cables can still
\nhandle resolutions up to 8K, so they\u2019re worth holding on to too, and whilst so
\nmany people threw their VGA monitor cables away, these are becoming
\nincreasingly valuable as retro collectors seek out those huge CRT monitors that
\nwe all had before the days of LCD panels. <\/span><\/p>\n

CRT TVs and monitors are becoming
\nmore difficult to find in working condition, yet the demand for these amongst
\nthe retro community has never been higher. If you have an old video camera or
\nVideo Cassette Recorder, CRT TVs are still going to be your best bet if you
\nplan on transferring old video cassettes to a new format.<\/span><\/p>\n

I can see CRTs becoming the
\ntech sectors equivalent to mining gold and it pains me to admit that I don\u2019t
\nthink we will ever see a manufacturer start making them again. We might remember
\nthem as having a fuzzy picture but if you plan to use old technology, the
\npicture you get from a CRT TV or monitor is significantly better than you will
\never get from the latest 8K Ultra everything flat screen TV. Old technology was
\ndesigned to be used with CRTs and whilst you can source new cables and adapters
\nto convert old signals to newer HDMI standards that will work on modern TVs and
\nmonitors, the output even if it is upscaled to the new resolution will be
\ngenerally pretty poor in comparison to the vibrancy of an original CRT. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are companies, mostly in
\nChina that purport to manufacture new CRT TVs, but most of them are more likely
\nto just be taking old discarded tubes out of TVs originally destined for landfill
\nor recycling. The tubes are placed into new plastic cases which means that the
\nquality will be questionable and will never be consistent between TVs. Some
\nmight already have screen burn making them less than useful, and I would be
\nnervous about plugging in technology that doesn\u2019t have to pass the rigorous
\nelectrical standards that we have in place today. <\/span><\/p>\n

Even if the technology is
\nlabelled with safety markings, that doesn\u2019t always mean that the technology has
\npassed any safety certifications. Entire industries have been set up in the
\nEast to recreate authentic looking electrical safety labels, product labels and
\nproduct brand badges to feed a market of fakes. Replacement products are then
\nbadged and sold in Western countries, usually online and shipped from China
\nwith scant regard to safety.<\/span><\/p>\n

No one that I\u2019m aware of has
\nthe current capability to mass produce CRT TVs for the domestic market today. That
\nsaid, there are specialist vacuum tube manufacturers who continue to innovate
\nthe technology for use in industrial applications and aviation, but it would
\ntake an insane amount of work to bring back domestic CRT TVs, and the public
\nwould need to buy back into the technology more widely. <\/span><\/p>\n

There is very little doubt in
\nmy mind that there is still a market for CRT TVs, and I\u2019m certain if a
\nmanufacturer created a new CRT TV it would sell in enough volume within retro
\nand vintage collector circles to make it worth their while, but it is an
\nexpensive technology and that would no doubt be reflected in the price they would
\nneed to charge.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the stand out features
\nof CRT technology and indeed, even the early flat panel LCD displays was always
\nthe amount of connectivity that they had which allowed you to connect all sorts
\nof devices. Today, we\u2019re lucky if we get 3 HDMI sockets, so we often find
\nourselves buying a third-party HDMI splitter to accommodate all of the devices
\nwe need to connect to any modern display. <\/span><\/p>\n

Connectivity with modern day
\nequipment is often sparse in order to keep the costs down and there\u2019s an
\nassumption made by many manufacturers that we would never need to have legacy
\nconnections on new equipment, but that hasn\u2019t stopped a huge market emerging to
\nprovide all sorts of legacy connections via various cables, dongles and hubs. I
\nchecked one high street retailer recently and asked if they had a TV with more
\nthan 3-HDMI sockets and out of more than two dozen TVs on display, only one of
\nthem had more than four HDMI connectors with most only having three. Even when
\nusing modern day technology, three HDMI connectors is going to prove to be
\nchallenging for most people.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"vintage<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Retro Car Radio by Mark Taylor – Each of these radios and the speakers were hand drawn and painted using a stylus on an M2 iPad Pro. The individual works were then assembled in a large format work. The original and prints show the detail of the plastics, each asset took an average of 10-hours of work. A labour of love or preservation of forgotten technology?<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

If you think that preserving or
\nprotecting your old personal data that exists on all of these old hard drives,
\nCD ROMS, and USB sticks is a challenge, you might want to consider how much
\nmore of a challenge it will be in the future when you need to preserve the data from a
\nmodern day SSD drive for example. <\/span><\/p>\n

We will be facing a real
\ncrisis within the next decade or so when it comes to either preserving or
\ndeleting data that we produce today. We currently have things like end to end
\nencryption, and modern PCs and laptops come with SSDs rather than the hard discs
\nof the past. This presents a problem in that the data on them isn\u2019t easy to
\ncompletely destroy and in some cases, it\u2019s no possible at all. <\/span><\/p>\n

The firmware on a modern SSD (Solid
\nState Drive) is designed to prevent sectors of the drive from being written
\nover. This means that the data is still present and if someone has some motivation
\nand the right tools, they will be able to recover it. We might also want to
\npreserve that data, so the challenges we face today in getting the old to speak
\nto the new are going to be exponentially harder because we will have to factor
\nin the encryption. <\/span><\/p>\n

This raises another question,
\nwhat about all of the old technology that you have today that might have
\npersonal data on the drives. If you are thinking of selling your old
\ntechnology, figuring out ways to retrieve your old data and permanently delete it
\nis imperative. Bad players are actively seeking out auction websites and yard
\nsales and buying old PCs, not because they are retro collectors looking for a
\nway to retrieve their old files, but because they know that there will be a
\nwealth of value in your old files, and on most hard drives, there will almost
\ncertainly be enough data for the bad player to create a duplicate of your
\nidentity. <\/span><\/p>\n

I get gifted a lot of old
\ntechnology but the one thing I am careful about is whenever I come across
\npersonal data. Even worse, should I ever stumble across corporate secrets if
\nthe technology originated from a business. Nowadays I only scour the systems
\nfor software that\u2019s no longer available so it can be preserved and I skip around
\nanything personal or commercial, mostly because if I find it and let the
\nprevious owner know, they will often have an expensive legal responsibility to
\ndo something about it which they wouldn\u2019t thank me for. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

With any kind of data
\npreservation there will always be a question around the ethics. Whether those
\nethical dilemmas stem from the potential to view personal or organisational
\ndata or whether it is the ethics of sourcing ROM files for use on emulators, ethics
\nis a big question and the answers will often lead you into legally opaque
\nareas. There could very well be an argument to preserve an old operating
\nsystems code base but what about preserving modern code that is freely
\navailable. <\/span><\/p>\n

The counter to this is that we
\nwere once so poor at documentation and retention especially back in the 80s and
\n90s, that if it hadn\u2019t been for software piracy we would have lost so many of
\nthe software titles that defined the early days of home computing. Today, it\u2019s
\nnot uncommon to find a code dump of a popular software title from that era which
\nis the only working example that exists. That\u2019s not to condone any form of software
\npiracy but we should be trying to find a solution to ensure what we have
\navailable today doesn\u2019t go the same way.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve often thought that the
\nsoftware industry should contribute to an independent global council for
\ndigital preservation, with developers ensuring that any code is archived for
\nhistoric purposes and access to that code could then be legally controlled in
\nthe future. It would go some way to preserve the digital only downloads that we
\nlose when an e-store closes, and the original authors could receive a royalty
\npayment should the code ever be reused or accessed in the future. Archive.org
\nis attempting this in some way but it falls short in that there is no mandate
\nfor any developer or creator to think about preservation. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"retro<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Video Y2K by Mark Taylor – These were awesome little video cameras. HD in the year 2000, built in USB connector meant no cables. Hand drawn, I reused the Planetary Target abstract I created because it perfectly sums up the period between the late 80s and early 2000s when home video was a thing that didn’t need a cell phone.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

I suspect what we do today with
\nour data will define us in about a hundred years and people will be asking what
\non earth we thought we were doing. We\u2019ve only recently arrived at a point where
\nwe are beginning to really care about what happens to our data and the truth is,
\nwe haven\u2019t really cared before this point and a lot of data that we wouldn\u2019t
\nwant out there is already out in the wild. I think the saying goes, you can\u2019t
\nput toothpaste back in the tube.<\/span><\/p>\n

So when we talk about
\npreservation, it\u2019s not just the old stuff that you need to be mindful of,
\npreserving todays data will be exponentially more difficult in the coming years
\nso it\u2019s probably worth looking at backing up that data on physical mediums
\ntoday. The issue here is that there are few, if any physical mediums that have
\nthe kind of storage capacity that most people would need in the modern day but
\nyou certainly need to have a data plan, even if you only have personal data to
\nback up.<\/span><\/p>\n

Optical and Physical Media:<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n

If you are of a certain
\nvintage or you have ever used hardware of a certain vintage, there\u2019s a good
\nchance that you might have pondered how on earth would you even begin to
\ntransfer your old files so that they can be viewed or even used on a modern
\ndevice. <\/span><\/p>\n

Optical and physical media is
\nstill largely available, at least for now but it will only be a matter of time
\nbefore our ability to utilise it for preservation begins to wane.<\/span><\/p>\n

3.5 inch floppy drives never really
\nwent away. The 40+ year old technology has only recently been banned by the
\nJapanese Government for use within its own offices, and as I said earlier,
\nthere are plenty of organisations and users who still rely on this old
\nequipment to run their businesses. The point here is that it\u2019s worth doing some
\nhomework first because the solution to do what you need to do is most likely
\nalready being used by an entire community of vintage technology and legacy
\nusers who have had maybe 40-years to figure this stuff out.<\/span><\/p>\n

With floppy discs, it\u2019s not always
\neasy to read and preserve original files because the discs might have become corrupted.
\nCD ROMS are rapidly going the same way and becoming more complicated to do
\nanything with for very similar reasons. The biggest issue is that modern day devices
\ndon\u2019t usually have the connectivity that you need to plug in old floppy drives,
\nand I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve seen a PC in at least the last five years which includes
\nan optical drive such as a CD ROM.<\/span><\/p>\n

Optical CD ROM drives can
\nstill be purchased and rather usefully, some will externally connect to a USB
\nport on your new PC. Rewritable CD ROM drives are also still available,
\nalthough the media you purchase for them today is generally of a low quality. <\/span><\/p>\n

Floppies are a different
\nmatter entirely, in part because the computer had to control when the drive
\nwould spin, when the arm would move and know exactly when and where to place the
\narm so that the computer could read the relevant data in the correct order. Modern
\nUSB connected 3.5 inch floppy drives will have limited function for the
\npreservation of data if your data was created on anything other than a PC or
\nIBM compatible, there are options here if you find that you need a drive from
\nsomething that isn\u2019t PC based, but most of these options will come with a very
\nsteep learning curve.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are various ways to
\nstill read most of your floppy discs, although to read some formats will
\npossibly require you to install some kind of emulator on your modern system. The
\nfile systems and the way files are constructed are very different these days
\nand older computers such as the early 1980s home microcomputers rarely had any visual
\nuser interface, you communicated with the built in programming language such as
\nBASIC or any of the others I outlined earlier. If you are backing up from older
\nIBM compatibles and early PCs, then learning the basics of DOS (Disc Operating
\nSystem) will be instrumental to any success you have with preservation.<\/span><\/p>\n

The weight of sledgehammer that
\nyou need to crack this particular nut will vary between the complexity or
\nsimpleness of the original system you need to somehow replicate and the
\ncomplexity of the modern day system you need the file to be transferred to.
\nThankfully, most emulators that run on PC or Mac, or even on single board
\ncomputers such as the Raspberry Pi, will let you transfer old files with relative
\nease. <\/span><\/p>\n

If you run an emulator on a
\nRaspberry Pi, you can transfer files to and from the emulated system by
\nconnecting the Pi to the PC (or Mac) through file explorer and either Wi-Fi or
\nvia an ethernet cable. This does involve a small level of easy tinkering, and
\nit usually just means connecting to your Raspberry Pi via it\u2019s IP address over Wi-Fi.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

There are plenty of YouTube
\ntutorials that go through this and many will utilise the most likely emulators
\nyou will be using, and the emulators really are all much of a muchness in how
\nthey function. The difference between emulators is how well they emulate
\nsomething on your new device and some emulators will always be better at replicating
\nspecific systems across all modern devices. <\/span><\/p>\n

Once you know how to find the
\nPi on your wireless network, you can replace the Pi with almost any device and
\nuse the same method. If you prefer, you can use a network cable to do the same
\nthing and it will likely be much faster at transferring any files.<\/span><\/p>\n

Floppy discs often take a
\nlittle more work. There are modern-day floppy disc drives available that
\nconnect to modern equipment via USB, but there are a couple of considerations
\nthat you need to be mindful of before attempting any type of transfer. Firstly,
\nfloppy discs are fragile and susceptible to breaking down due to environmental
\nfactors, and dust and dirt can cause mechanical issues with the drive and
\nrender it useless. <\/span><\/p>\n

Before you get too excited and
\ncharge ahead, make sure you check every disc for visible signs of failure and
\nespecially look out for any part of the disc that has started to erode. If you
\nneed data from those there will be no way of guaranteeing its integrity or
\ncondition, and it\u2019s usually only recommended if you have some experience of
\nrecovering data. <\/span><\/p>\n

I regularly have to check 3.5
\ninch floppy discs because those are the discs where most of my early works had originally
\nbeen saved. To clean them, I use a 3D printed 3.5 inch disc frame that has
\nsmall pegs which hold the disc in place. They\u2019re widely available on Etsy these
\ndays and they\u2019re much cheaper than replacing a drive. A wheel is then inserted
\nwhich allows you to turn the disc which can then be gently wiped with a cotton
\nbud and a drop of isopropyl alcohol.<\/span><\/p>\n

The above is the easy part of
\nthe great floppy challenge, the real challenge is when you need to utilise old
\ndrives which were built into home computers such as the Commodore Amiga and
\nAtari ST. You have a few options here, in some cases you can source spares and occasionally
\nyou might come across new-old stock for replacement parts, but there is no
\nguarantee that those parts will be available when you want them or where you
\nneed them to be delivered.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you have an older computer
\nsuch as an Atari ST or Amiga, the modern USB replacement 3.5 inch drives which
\ncan be picked up for around $25 US, and around \u00a325 UK, might share the same
\ndisk size but they are completely different technologies. Modern discs (or as
\nmodern as a 3.5 inch disc can be) will be Double Sided, High Density, (DS\/HD)
\nbut many of the older computers with built in drives such as the Amiga used a
\nDouble Sided, Double Density (DS\/DD) and wrote in a completely different file
\nformat and required a different drive technology.<\/span><\/p>\n

When this happens you might
\nhave to trigger your inner geek and go down the route of SD Card solutions that
\nreplicate floppy discs and floppy disc controllers of yesteryear, or you could
\nutilise a Raspberry Pi Pico, a small $5 single board microcontroller which will
\nthen form the basis of a project to repurpose almost any 3.5 inch floppy drive.
\nArduino boards can also be found in some of these projects, but almost all of these
\nwill need some form of other hardware to be attached in the form of a HAT
\n(hardware attached on top) or will need to be soldered to the original board. <\/span><\/p>\n

HATs or whatever term is more relevant
\nto your choice of single board computer (SBC) or microcontroller can be found which
\nperform all sorts of functions. Some will allow you to utilise original 9-pin
\nD-Type controllers such as those which were once used on older PCs and game
\nconsoles, others will allow you to connect an audio cassette player so that you
\ncan load files stored on audio or data cassettes into the emulator or core.
\nMost of these additional devices are inexpensive, so before you spend
\nsignificant money on rebuying all of your old cables and replacing old
\nequipment, it might be worth considering whether a single board computer with a
\nHAT device or even on its own will perform the task you need it to perform. <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had some success in
\nreplicating non-PC 3.5 inch floppy discs using an SBC together with a modern
\nUSB floppy drive, other people have figured out 5.25 inch disc projects using
\nthe Pico, I\u2019ve yet to meet anyone who has come up with a way of recreating the
\nolder 8-inch formats. My advice here is to seek out pre-built projects which
\ncome with support because some of these SBC focussed projects can be challenging
\nif you\u2019re not keen on navigating the initial learning curve.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"Retro<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Retro Auto by Mark Taylor – I filled my first car with speakers and only had a radio. I think 18 year olds in the 80s were all just like me!<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

Cassette Tape:<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n

In the UK and Europe, disc
\ndrives were never as popular as they were in the USA during the days of 8-bit
\nand 16-bit computers. This meant that while my US friends had become used to
\nfast loads and floppies, most of us across the pond had to load and save our
\nfiles using a very slow cassette tape that would work only when it worked which
\nwasn\u2019t all that often.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t have access to
\nthe original equipment, you have limited options to transfer cassette tape
\nbased files. My preference would be to go with an FPGA based device such as the
\nMister, but that\u2019s going to be an expensive option although you can add a HAT
\nthat allows you to connect a cassette player to the Mister and there will be
\nalmost no difference in compatibility. Mostly, you will need to seek out SD
\nCard based solutions but that won\u2019t solve the problem of the file being on the
\ncassette rather than on the device.<\/span><\/p>\n

In some cases, files can be
\ntransferred from cassette and recreated as a digital file using a cassette
\nplayer, a mobile phone that can listen to the audio, and an application. Most
\npeople who use this method use it to download tape files to emulators, usually
\nusing some kind of Android based device. If you are invested in the Apple
\neco-system, there\u2019s nothing that I\u2019m aware of, certainly through the official
\nApp Store that would allow you to do this. <\/span><\/p>\n

A much easier way would be to
\ninvest in a modern cassette player with a USB port. These can be picked up for
\nless than $50 US, \u00a350 UK if you look around online, most come with some
\nsoftware that will enable you to backup your cassette based music collection,
\njust don\u2019t expect Dolby levels of sound quality. There\u2019s no reason why these
\nsame devices couldn\u2019t do the same thing with data so that the newly created
\ndigital data can be read by an emulator, but you will need to source some
\nsoftware for your PC or Mac that will convert the original analogue track into a
\nfile type that will be readable with your emulator.<\/span><\/p>\n

Repurpose an old PC:<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n

I remember a time when you
\ncould pick up a used vintage PC for little to no money at all, and most of the
\ntime people were happy to hand them over for free in return for taking them
\naway. Not so today, a 1971 era Kenbak-1 will probably cost you in the region of
\n$40,000 US, (only 50 were made), an Apple 1, has a current value of around
\n$460,000 US, but even a basic X286 PC from the 90s is likely to be worth anywhere
\nbetween $200 – $600, although you can find them cheaper depending on where you
\nlook, the condition they\u2019re in, and any extra\u2019s which may be included. <\/span><\/p>\n

Retro collectors are currently
\nbuying up older PCs, almost anything is collectible and in demand and
\nespecially PCs that utilised DOS, partly because of the brilliant games and
\ntext based adventures that could be found on the systems at the time. The demand
\nis currently outstripping supply, so much so that modern day replica\u2019s of older
\nPCs can often be found either as hobbyist builds or in a few cases, as
\ncommercially produced systems and you might need deep pockets to afford some of
\nthose.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you do have an older PC and
\nthat\u2019s where the files you need to preserve are, the options available become
\nnumerous and can mostly be solved with the addition of a USB controller,
\ndrivers, or cables. If you are using Windows, you do have an option to run some
\napplications in compatibility mode, the problem you might face is when you need
\nthat compatibility to go back pre-Windows 7 in most cases, it\u2019s not a reliable way
\nbut it is worth a try. <\/span><\/p>\n

There will be oddities with preserving
\nold files if you originally used proprietary drives such as Zip or Jaz Drives, or
\nany number of the drives that came on the market and competed with each other
\nin the early days of microcomputers and early PCs. Most of these drives were designed
\nto tie you into a physical media format which would have been largely
\nincompatible with any other drive from any other manufacturer, and because
\nthere were once so many of these things, none of them found mass traction and
\nadoption. This means that you are going to be limited without replacement
\ndrives, and in some cases you might need to be creative in how you attach those
\nearly drives to a modern PC.<\/span><\/p>\n

It becomes slightly easier if
\nyou have the original technology, there will almost always be a way to transfer
\nfiles, even if you need to utilise a single board computer such as a Raspberry
\nPi and set up a preservation project. This is generally where emulation can
\nmake life much easier.<\/span><\/p>\n

Emulation:<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n

Something else to bear in mind
\nis that whilst many of emulation based solutions will allow you to source original
\nROM files from the internet, doing that is something that mostly falls into the
\ncategory that is a legally grey area. Mostly, \u00a0<\/span>that area is not so grey in that it\u2019s
\ndefinitely illegal even if you own the original file, and it\u2019s something that
\nbecomes complicated to do if you\u2019re not used to running emulators, most need
\nyou to perform at least some sort of configuration. The good news here is that
\nthe emulation scene is big enough to offer support and most emulators are
\nsimilar in how they work that in understanding one, means that you can probably
\ntackle them all. <\/span><\/p>\n

Emulators can emulate most
\nthings on a modern day PC or Mac, including relatively recent video games
\nconsoles, but that\u2019s a completely different subject for someone else to cover.
\nWhat I will say, is that there is a good chance that you will be able to recreate
\nyour old system on a new PC with an emulator to preserve your own original
\nfiles.<\/span><\/p>\n

What can I emulate?<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n

On my $70 Raspberry Pi 400, I can
\nemulate dozens of older systems, and almost everything I need to emulate without
\nturning on a modern PC. I have emulators that can recreate those old LED and
\nLCD table top video games along with emulators that can perfectly recreate 1980s
\narcade machines right the way through to home computers and video game
\nconsoles, although video games consoles post PlayStation 3 are few and far
\nbetween and replicating a modern console is going to tax even the most powerful
\nmodern PC. <\/span><\/p>\n

Emulation of early systems is
\ngenerally flawless, emulation of modern systems is almost always a choppy
\nexperience at best, the emulators for anything from the PlayStation 3 onwards
\njust haven\u2019t had enough years of development to produce a seamless experience
\nand arguably, that kind of technology is still relatively easy to find in
\nworking order.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s also worth bearing in mind
\nthat some emulators were written in the early 2000s and a few were created
\nduring the late 1990s, so depending on what you need to emulate might require
\nyou to either emulate an earlier system in order to emulate an even earlier
\nsystem, which is going to be character building, or it will require you to
\ntrack down some earlier hardware and work forwards from there. <\/span><\/p>\n

Some of these emulators will continue
\nto work well despite not being updated for many years, other emulators have
\nhuge communities that continue to develop the code to make it compatible with
\nmodern devices. My advice is to once again turn to the internet and track down
\nthe communities based around the system you need to emulate, and there are some
\nreally obscure systems so chances are that whatever you need to emulate will
\nhave someone waiting in the wings to offer some support.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most emulators will be Open
\nSource and freely available, in part because the copyright still exists for
\nthose old systems so anyone selling you an emulator is likely to be breaching
\nthe user agreement for distributing the software. That said, there are a few
\nemulators that have been created by the original manufacturers or by
\norganisations who now own or are closely aligned to the trademark, these will
\nbe mostly for industrial systems which are still required for manufacturing processes
\nand some of them will cost money. <\/span><\/p>\n

I use emulation a lot,
\nespecially when I need to create 8-bit images for clients and don\u2019t have access
\nto the original equipment. If I work on digital assets that will be used on
\noriginal hardware, wherever possible I will create the assets on the original
\ndevice wherever possible. For preservation, I don\u2019t think it really matters,
\nwhat does matter is that you have a file you can continue to access.<\/span><\/p>\n

Emulation is going to be one
\nof the primary tools that you will have to save your old digital work and files
\nbefore transferring the old or newly created file to your chosen storage for
\npreservation and use. So with this in mind, it\u2019s worth getting a basic understanding
\nof what emulation is and how it generally works so you can begin to apply the
\nprocess of preservation across almost any technology or file that you will need
\nto preserve. <\/span><\/p>\n

Emulation is one way of recreating
\npast technologies and formats, there are other ways such as creating a virtual
\nmachine (VM) on a modern PC and installing an older operating system within
\nthat virtual machine running within a modern operating system, but it\u2019s not a
\nprocess I would recommend if all you need to do is transfer your first digital painting
\non to a USB stick, this approach would be similar to taking a sledgehammer to
\ncrack open an egg.<\/span><\/p>\n

A step above emulation and a
\ndirect replacement for owning the original equipment would be to replicate the original
\nhardware at the hardware level as opposed to emulating via software. It\u2019s worth
\njust going through a brief explanation of software versus hardware emulation.<\/span><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Emulation:
\nEmulation involves creating a software-based replica of a hardware system or
\ncomponent. It typically runs on a general-purpose computing platform, such as a
\npersonal computer or a gaming console. Emulators mimic the behaviour of the
\noriginal hardware by interpreting the system’s instructions and translating
\nthem into equivalent actions on the host platform. Emulation can be more
\nflexible and easily accessible, as it allows running multiple systems on a
\nsingle device, but it may introduce some latency or inaccuracies due to the
\ntranslation process. This might still be your best bet because as I said
\nearlier, it matters not if you just need to preserve the file or transfer it to
\nmodern storage mediums.<\/span><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>FPGA-based
\nHardware Replication: The MiSTer platform (there are other FPGA platforms), on
\nthe other hand, utilises a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) to replicate
\nthe behaviour of specific hardware systems. An FPGA is a reconfigurable
\nintegrated circuit that can be programmed to mimic the functions and behaviour
\nof various digital systems. Instead of emulating the system in software, MiSTer
\nor any other FPGA device recreates it in hardware using programmable logic
\nelements. <\/span><\/p>\n

This
\napproach aims to achieve greater accuracy by directly replicating the original
\nhardware’s behaviour at a lower level. MiSTer uses FPGA cores that are
\nspecifically developed for each system, providing a more faithful
\nrepresentation of the original hardware’s operation. For some use cases, this
\nmight be the way you need to go in the absence of original equipment, but for
\ngeneral preservation, it\u2019s another sledgehammer that you won\u2019t necessarily
\nneed. <\/span><\/p>\n

In summary, emulation involves
\ncreating software-based replicas of hardware systems, while running a core on a
\nMiSTer FPGA device uses reconfigurable hardware to replicate the behaviour of
\nspecific systems. Both approaches aim to provide a means of playing or
\nexperiencing classic hardware and software or accessing legacy files, but
\nFPGA-based replication tends to offer a more accurate representation of the
\noriginal systems because the hardware it runs on becomes to all intents and purposes,
\na new version of the original hardware at the hardware level.<\/span><\/p>\n

As for what you will be able
\nto preserve is really down to the \u201ccores\u201d or systems that you are able to
\nemulate. The most popular ones are listed below, but it\u2019s worth noting that
\nthere are literally dozens and dozens of emulators available for almost any
\ncomputer or single board computer, and there are emulator packages available
\nfor other devices such as game consoles, Mac, and older hand held devices such
\nas Sony\u2019s PlayStation Vita and the recent Steam Deck from Valve. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
No More Hidden Figures by Mark Taylor – I find the history of women playing a major role in the Space race of the 60s an inspiring story.\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Retro
\nGaming Consoles:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>NES (Nintendo Entertainment System)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Sega Genesis<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Game Boy (including Game Boy Color and Game Boy
\nAdvance)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>PlayStation 1<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Atari 2600<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Atari 7800<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Neo Geo<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Game Gear<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Sega Master System<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>TurboGrafx-16<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Nintendo 64 (limited compatibility)<\/span><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Home
\nComputers:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Commodore 64<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Amiga<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Atari ST<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>ZX Spectrum<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>MS-DOS (using DOSBox)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Amstrad CPC<\/span><\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Arcade
\nMachines:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>FinalBurn Alpha<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Neo Geo<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Capcom Play System (CPS-1, CPS-2, CPS-3)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Atari<\/span><\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Handheld
\nConsoles:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Game Boy<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Game Boy Color<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Game Boy Advance<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Sega Game Gear<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Atari Lynx<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Neo Geo Pocket<\/span><\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Other
\nConsoles:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Sega Dreamcast (limited compatibility)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Sega Saturn (limited compatibility)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>PSP (PlayStation Portable)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Nintendo DS (limited compatibility)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>3DO<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Wonderswan<\/span><\/p>\n

6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Other
\nSystems:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Apple II<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>BBC Micro<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Acorn Archimedes<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>MSX<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Amstrad CPC<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Sinclair QL<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Oric<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Thomson TO7\/70<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>ColecoVision<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Intellivision<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Vectrex<\/span><\/p>\n

It is worth noting that the
\ncompatibility and performance of emulation can vary based on the specific
\nRaspberry Pi model you have if you are using a Pi, and the quality of
\nfunctionality can vary between the emulator software being used. Additionally,
\ncertain systems may require additional configuration or BIOS files for proper
\nemulation which is true even if you are using an emulator from a PC or Mac, but
\nthe emulation community reaches far and wide and support is often just a click
\nor two away and YouTube is a great source of reliable step-by-step instruction.<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s also worth mentioning
\nthat new emulators and compatibility improvements are being developed
\nconstantly, so this list may not be exhaustive and may change over time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rather than games consoles
\nwhere it is unlikely your original files will sit, it\u2019s more likely that you
\nwill want to emulate an older computer. A Raspberry Pi can emulate a wide range
\nof popular vintage computers, and both Mister and PC\/Mac are capable of running
\nmost of them really well. Here are some examples:<\/span><\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Commodore
\n64: The Raspberry Pi and PCs can run emulators such as VICE to emulate the
\nCommodore 64, a popular 8-bit home computer from the 1980s.<\/span><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Amiga:
\nEmulators like UAE4All and Amiberry allow the Raspberry Pi to emulate the
\nCommodore Amiga, a renowned home computer known for its multimedia
\ncapabilities. If you need to emulate on a PC, WinUAE is one of the best for Commodore
\nAmiga, but you could also use an A500 Mini, a replica of the original Amiga
\nA500 that also emulates other Amiga models. These devices are manufactured by a
\ncompany called Retro Games Ltd and are available from places such as Amazon,
\nand it is a hassle free way of replicating one of the best home computers of
\nall time. <\/span><\/p>\n

Most
\nof my modern Amiga based artworks are now created on this device, purely
\nbecause it is more efficient and the use of the WHD Load functionality means
\nthat files no longer have to exist on a single disc.<\/span><\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Atari
\nST: The Raspberry Pi can emulate the Atari ST, another popular home computer
\nfrom the 1980s, using emulators like Hatari which is a cross platform emulator.<\/span><\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>ZX
\nSpectrum: Emulators such as Fuse and ZEsarUX enable the Raspberry Pi to emulate
\nthe ZX Spectrum, a widely-used 8-bit home computer primarily known for its
\nextensive game library and despite its limited graphics and pallets is actually
\none of the finest machines to create 8-bit graphics on, if you can forgive the
\nattribute clash where colours overlap.<\/span><\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>MS-DOS:
\nDOSBox, a DOS emulator, can be installed on a Raspberry Pi to run software and
\ngames designed for MS-DOS-based computers but it really comes into its own when
\nused on a PC where any old DOS based files might be found. Certainly if you
\nhave access to a USB Floppy disc alongside DOS Box, that might be all you
\nreally need to begin your journey of preservation. PCem should be your go to
\nemulator for IBM PC and clones.<\/span><\/p>\n

6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Apple
\nII: The Raspberry Pi can emulate the Apple II, a series of personal computers,
\nusing emulators like AppleWin and LinApple. Apple II runs extremely well via
\nemulation on every device I have ever attempted to run it on.<\/span><\/p>\n

7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>BBC
\nMicro: The Raspberry Pi can emulate the BBC Micro, a popular home computer in
\nthe UK, through emulators like BeebEm and B-Em. There are known problems with original
\nBBC Micro\u2019s with a few components that haven\u2019t aged well, but it is becoming a
\npopular micro for collectors in the USA who feel able to take on the challenge
\nof getting a PAL rather than NTSC device to power on, and the challenge of the
\npower supply of course. It is an unlikely source of original files, many of
\nwhich will either reside on a floppy disc (5.25 inch, and that\u2019s an issue
\nwithout a physical drive) or on cassette which will be slightly easier to
\npreserve.<\/span><\/p>\n

8.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>Acorn
\nArchimedes: The RPCEmu emulator allows the Raspberry Pi to emulate the Acorn
\nArchimedes, a line of computers known for their advanced graphics and sound
\ncapabilities. In terms of digital art, many of the original digital artists in
\nthe UK at least, will have had some touch point with an Archimedes and it is
\nfeasible that old files where they still exist, might need to be preserved.<\/span><\/p>\n

9.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/span>MSX:
\nThe Raspberry Pi can emulate the MSX, a popular home computer standard, using
\nemulators such as openMSX and blueMSX. MSX was a standard rather than a
\ncomputer and it was a standard that went beyond home computers. MSX was an
\nabbreviation for Microsoft Extended Basic, so if you do have original files
\nfrom this system it is likely that you can find far easier creative ways of
\npreserving them because the language was largely shared between lots of devices
\nfrom the period and it is well supported by emulators today. <\/span><\/p>\n

The
\nstandard wasn\u2019t as widely adopted in the West but it remained popular in Japan
\nand the far east more broadly, but it had some limitations mostly as a result
\nof each manufacturer utilising the standard but then making significant changes
\nbetween models that made them incompatible.<\/span><\/p>\n

10.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span>Tandy TRS-80: Emulators such as XRoar and MAME
\ncan be used to emulate the Tandy TRS-80, a popular line of microcomputers
\nproduced by Tandy Corporation that found traction in the US especially where it
\nwas affectionately better known as the CoCo or Color Computer. If you were
\ngetting into computers during the 80s in the USA, the TRS-80 could very well
\nhave been one of your first forays into home computing. If it wasn\u2019t the Tandy,
\nthen it was likely to a machine from Commodore or Atari. <\/span><\/p>\n

This really does demonstrate
\nthe breadth of the possibilities for emulation which should make any
\npreservation projects much easier, and aside from the consoles, most of the
\nhome computers above had at least some level of graphic capability that would
\nlend itself to the creation of digital art. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"vintage<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Telepoint 92 by Mark Taylor – A precursor to the modern day cell phone, these telpoint handsets could make calls within range of a base station which could be found in restaurants and service stations along major traffic routes. When they worked… Again, this piece is all hand drawn. I would love to find an original one of these today!<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s not just art assets that
\nyou might need to recover from old data storage mediums, recently I had the
\npleasure of recovering a lost unpublished manuscript on behalf of a collector
\nof my work who also happens to be a writer. Originally created in\u00a0 <\/span>Word Perfect during the early 1980s it had originally
\nbeen stored on a 5.25 inch floppy, was later transferred to a 3.5 inch floppy
\nwhich is where it remained until two weeks ago. It\u2019s now stored on a USB memory
\nstick with multiple copies in the cloud!<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure if video ever
\nkilled radio or whether Netflix truly killed video, but I do know that there
\nare still millions of VHS and Betamax video tapes filled with distant memories languishing
\nin cardboard boxes. There may even be a couple of Video 2000 cassettes
\nsomewhere amongst them too.<\/span><\/p>\n

Preserving video footage from
\nold 8mm film and VHS tapes was for a while during the early 2000s, a widely
\nheld skill. We had begun to see the emergence of recordable DVD players and
\nmany of us would attach our decades old failing videocassette players to them
\nand transfer our VHS tapes so that we could preserve our videocam memories onto
\nCD-RWs.<\/span><\/p>\n

We did the same with Vinyl
\nrecords when as the audio cassette became popular when Sony gave us the
\nWalkman. Everything is cyclical, Walkman is back as a brand, vinyl outsells CD,
\nBlockbuster still exists in Bend, Oregon, and a handful of new video rental
\nstores have begun to remerge over the past couple of years. <\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s the social event of
\nselecting a title at the gathering in the Church of Hollywood on a Saturday
\nnight, and the shear profit that can be made from selling popcorn and Ben and
\nJerry\u2019s. Who knows, maybe it\u2019s just a nostalgia thing that we\u2019ll move on from.<\/span><\/p>\n

In every attic in the land
\nthere exists a cardboard box, and where there\u2019s no cardboard box there is a gap
\nthat memories of past technologies fill. In that box there will be a mish mash
\nof blank tapes from every conceivable format that we bought into as the next
\nbig thing as we listen to the shouts of, \u201cwe want our memories back\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thankfully there\u2019s both an app
\nand a dongle for that, what a time to be alive. The missing bit is the
\ntechnology that is still needed to spool that magnetic tape into a muddled mess
\nbecause the heads need cleaning. If we can lay our hand on a bargain eBay video
\ncassette player, we now have options.<\/span><\/p>\n

Connecting a VHS player to a modern
\ndisplay is going to be your next mission, for this you will need at least a
\ncomposite to HDMI adapter. These are cheap enough but buyer beware, the
\ncheapest will degrade an already degraded film even more. <\/span><\/p>\n

You might want to spend a
\nlittle more and buy some upscaling technology, or you could find a specialist
\nwho preserves and transfers old film, there are plenty of small independent
\nbusinesses that have managed to somehow continue making a living out of
\ntransferring old film formats to digital files and often they can tackle the
\npreservation of other file types too.<\/span><\/p>\n

You might need to borrow or
\nbuy a playback device, there are still plenty of working video cassette
\nrecorders on sites such as eBay, my advice is to avoid the listings that
\nsuggest what you are buying is super rare, the reality is that very few of
\nthese devices are going to be worth more than $50 US or \u00a350 UK. The exception
\nwill be the devices that combine recordable DVD and Video Cassette, and because
\nmany were manufactured without a recordable DVD, you may have to pay a premium
\nfor these. If you already own the playback device, you will need to get it connected
\nto your TV or monitor, thankfully you can easily pick up composite to HDMI
\ncables, although in some cases you may have to use a combination of cables,
\nbearing in mind that the more connectivity you place between the player and the
\nscreen, the poorer the quality\u00a0 <\/span>of
\npicture you will see.<\/span><\/p>\n

To counter this, I would be
\nminded to play the footage back through a video capture device or card, and
\nagain, these are readily available but I would go for something that will
\nupscale the resolution, and I would avoid the really inexpensive devices
\nbecause they will either lack in the sound department or the display, often
\nboth. Get the best you can afford.<\/span><\/p>\n

Transfer of video is usually as
\nsimple as starting the playback on the device and using video capture software.
\nI would avoid any software bundled with capture cards that have been purchased
\nonline, you will have no idea if that software contains any malicious code.
\nStick to something like Premier Pro or any of the free video editing suites
\nsuch as Da Vinci Resolve or OBS Studio if finances are stretched.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just remember to clean the heads
\non the playback device using isopropyl alcohol before you start, check the
\nmedium containing the footage for any signs of degradation, and make sure you select
\nthe correct input source on your software.<\/span><\/p>\n

Once you have a digital file
\nyou can then begin the real clean up process using the video editing software.
\nYou will need to follow similar principles for audio tapes and CDs, but the
\nprocess for capturing sound is generally much easier than it is for video.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"retro<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
TV 1974 by Mark Taylor – There was nothing like a game of Tennis on the TV in the 70s! Hand drawn because I don’t believe in AI – unlike so many artists these days who love nothing more than to press a button. I have views I will one day share, but in the meantime, lazy, get a grip.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

Organisations such as the
\nDigital Preservation Coalition are excellent sources of information that will
\nhelp you to preserve all of your digital files, and they provide deep insights
\ninto how you might want to pre-plan any future preservation requirements which
\nis essential if your current work involves digital assets that you will want to
\ncontinue to own or have available. <\/span><\/p>\n

You can find the Digital
\nPreservation Coalition website and its resources right here: https:\/\/www.dpconline.org\/about<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The DPC has various objectives
\nat its heart; <\/span><\/p>\n