https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=1909%3A_Digital_Resource_Lifespan 2026-04-09T19:05:55Z Revision history for this page on the wiki MediaWiki 1.30.0 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1909:_Digital_Resource_Lifespan&diff=311343&oldid=prev 2023-04-24T05:36:09Z

<p>‎<span dir="auto"><span class="autocomment">Transcript</span></span></p> <table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface"> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <tr style="vertical-align: top;" lang="en"> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: white; color:black; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: white; color:black; text-align: center;">Revision as of 05:36, 24 April 2023</td> </tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l61" >Line 61:</td> <td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 61:</td></tr> <tr><td class='diff-marker'>&#160;</td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'>&#160;</td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr> <tr><td class='diff-marker'>&#160;</td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==Transcript==</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>&#160;</td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==Transcript==</div></td></tr> <tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">{{incomplete transcript|Needs reorganization?}}</del></div></td><td colspan="2">&#160;</td></tr> <tr><td class='diff-marker'>&#160;</td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>:My access to resources on [SUBJECT] over time:</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>&#160;</td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>:My access to resources on [SUBJECT] over time:</div></td></tr> <tr><td class='diff-marker'>&#160;</td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'>&#160;</td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr> </table>

Xurkitree10 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1909:_Digital_Resource_Lifespan&diff=287957&oldid=prev 2022-07-01T14:47:33Z

<p>Moved title text explanation to being below comic explanation, where it belongs.</p> <table class="diff diff-contentalign-left" data-mw="interface"> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <col class="diff-marker" /> <col class="diff-content" /> <tr style="vertical-align: top;" lang="en"> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: white; color:black; text-align: center;">← Older revision</td> <td colspan="2" style="background-color: white; color:black; text-align: center;">Revision as of 14:47, 1 July 2022</td> </tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" id="mw-diff-left-l10" >Line 10:</td> <td colspan="2" class="diff-lineno">Line 10:</td></tr> <tr><td class='diff-marker'>&#160;</td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'>&#160;</td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr> <tr><td class='diff-marker'>&#160;</td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>In this chart, [[Randall]] laments the tendency of digital resources to quickly become obsolete or non-functional.&#160; By taking a general subject, such as xkcd's core subjects of &quot;romance, sarcasm, math, and language&quot;, one can see that a useful tool such as a smartphone or computer app or interactive CD-ROM (essentially, software) does not have the lasting power of printed books (e.g. textbooks, for many general subjects) and microfilm/microfiche.&#160; The printed resources, not having to rely on a computerized platform for use, are far more reliable despite being less mobile and taking up physical space. The only digital source which is still working is {{w|Portable Document Format}} (aka PDF) which encapsulates fixed layout flat documents, and is supported for years already by {{w|Adobe Systems}} and is part of {{w|International Organization for Standardization|ISO}} standards, so has a widespread support, and should be still viewable in foreseeable future.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>&#160;</td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>In this chart, [[Randall]] laments the tendency of digital resources to quickly become obsolete or non-functional.&#160; By taking a general subject, such as xkcd's core subjects of &quot;romance, sarcasm, math, and language&quot;, one can see that a useful tool such as a smartphone or computer app or interactive CD-ROM (essentially, software) does not have the lasting power of printed books (e.g. textbooks, for many general subjects) and microfilm/microfiche.&#160; The printed resources, not having to rely on a computerized platform for use, are far more reliable despite being less mobile and taking up physical space. The only digital source which is still working is {{w|Portable Document Format}} (aka PDF) which encapsulates fixed layout flat documents, and is supported for years already by {{w|Adobe Systems}} and is part of {{w|International Organization for Standardization|ISO}} standards, so has a widespread support, and should be still viewable in foreseeable future.</div></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2">&#160;</td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></ins></div></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="2">&#160;</td><td class='diff-marker'>+</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #a3d3ff; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><ins style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Archive.org refers to {{w|The Internet Archive}}, a non-profit organization that maintains the {{w|Wayback Machine}}, one of the largest archives of the {{w|World Wide Web}}. When a website is taken offline, copies of its content can often be found backed-up on the Wayback Machine. The Wayback Machine is primarily designed to back up {{w|Website|websites}}, however, and will often not be able to save information stored in a site's {{w|Database|databases}}, as alluded to in the comic. The Internet Archive has a part for non-website archives, but it cannot hold recent databases either due to copyright problems.</ins></div></td></tr> <tr><td class='diff-marker'>&#160;</td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'>&#160;</td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr> <tr><td class='diff-marker'>&#160;</td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The title text makes a statement that libraries do not require the support of ''original'' authors/experts to organize and store vast resources for any subject imaginable.&#160; This is true, but omits the fact that ongoing efforts are required by experts in information organization and storage -- namely, librarians.&#160; Physical books and microfilm/microfiche need controlled storage environments, manual handling for storage, retrieval, distribution (in library terms, &quot;circulation&quot;), and the like.&#160; Thus, a library can require significant resources in personnel and facilities, but is usually seen as a &quot;public good&quot; for the benefit of society; thus, many communities and educational institutions invest in creating and maintaining a library despite the costs.</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>&#160;</td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>The title text makes a statement that libraries do not require the support of ''original'' authors/experts to organize and store vast resources for any subject imaginable.&#160; This is true, but omits the fact that ongoing efforts are required by experts in information organization and storage -- namely, librarians.&#160; Physical books and microfilm/microfiche need controlled storage environments, manual handling for storage, retrieval, distribution (in library terms, &quot;circulation&quot;), and the like.&#160; Thus, a library can require significant resources in personnel and facilities, but is usually seen as a &quot;public good&quot; for the benefit of society; thus, many communities and educational institutions invest in creating and maintaining a library despite the costs.</div></td></tr> <tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;"></del></div></td><td colspan="2">&#160;</td></tr> <tr><td class='diff-marker'>−</td><td style="color:black; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #ffe49c; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div><del style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;">Archive.org refers to {{w|The Internet Archive}}, a non-profit organization that maintains the {{w|Wayback Machine}}, one of the largest archives of the {{w|World Wide Web}}. When a website is taken offline, copies of its content can often be found backed-up on the Wayback Machine. The Wayback Machine is primarily designed to back up {{w|Website|websites}}, however, and will often not be able to save information stored in a site's {{w|Database|databases}}, as alluded to in the comic. The Internet Archive has a part for non-website archives, but it cannot hold recent databases either due to copyright problems.</del></div></td><td colspan="2">&#160;</td></tr> <tr><td class='diff-marker'>&#160;</td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td><td class='diff-marker'>&#160;</td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"></td></tr> <tr><td class='diff-marker'>&#160;</td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==Table==</div></td><td class='diff-marker'>&#160;</td><td style="background-color: #f9f9f9; color: #333333; font-size: 88%; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 1px 1px 4px; border-radius: 0.33em; border-color: #e6e6e6; vertical-align: top; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div>==Table==</div></td></tr> </table>

172.70.130.161 https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1909:_Digital_Resource_Lifespan&diff=283014&oldid=prev 2022-05-26T19:56:59Z

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