tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32359372.post3065071025652424833..comments2024-01-11T11:13:09.290-05:00Comments on The REAL Writing Life: Abandonware?Michael A. Bankshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17211701417263515896noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32359372.post-25018621921312051292007-11-09T16:08:00.000-05:002007-11-09T16:08:00.000-05:00I agree with the "dark ages" theory, Eric. I'll h...I agree with the "dark ages" theory, Eric. I'll have to read some Charles Stross. (Just finished Michener's <I>Space</I>, by the way, and it's a great way to relive the excitement of the early space program.)<BR/><BR/>You know, getting back to the DRM and multiple file formats and multi-generational incompatibility, I wouldn't be surprised if we end up losing things. I have some manuscripts on old Apple ][+ disks that I need to someday put on CD.<BR/>--MikeMichael A. Bankshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17211701417263515896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32359372.post-51493249337362246782007-11-09T13:04:00.000-05:002007-11-09T13:04:00.000-05:00It's funny how technology changes things. By the t...It's funny how technology changes things. By the time copyright has ended on almost anything involving technology, there'll be no way to play it back. If it wasn't for the people breaking copyright and creating emulators to play old games a lot of the abandonware would be unplayable.<BR/><BR/>In the past two years XBOX, Nintendo and Playstation have shaked things up a bit with the "live arcade" emulation of old games. Now abandonware catalogs suddenly have value again. No one will buy your PC game anymore, but the XBOX Live Arcade port is selling some units.<BR/><BR/>But what about 50-100 years from now?<BR/><BR/>I've been reading some of Charles Stross' scifi and I find myself agreeing with the idea that 1980s onwards is going to turn into a dark age from the view of human history because of file formats, DRM and the organic nature of the Internet making a huge body of information unavailable in the long term.engtechhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15449321190314466105noreply@blogger.com