Marketplace All-in-One Why digital archiving is more than "store and ignore"
Mar 25, 2026
Linda Tadic, digital archivist and CEO of Digital Bedrock who rescues and preserves legacy audio, explains why stored digital files can vanish. She discusses hardware obsolescence and the need for legacy machines to read old media. She warns that cloud storage is still physical and finite. She recounts a dramatic archival rescue from failing LTO tapes.
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Nearly Lost TV Season Recovered
- Linda Tadic described a near-loss where a TV series' first season went missing until a second copy was found.
- Files lived on old drives and proprietary LTO tape requiring Windows 95/XP-era hardware and software to recover them.
Digital Storage Is Not Store And Ignore
- Digital files can't be treated like film's 'store and ignore' because formats, software, and hardware become obsolete.
- Even perfectly durable media fail if the ecosystem to read the files (formats, OS, backup software) disappears.
Plan For Migration Not Permanent Cloud Storage
- Understand that the 'cloud' relies on physical media with finite lives and plan for migration.
- Actively migrate data and maintain awareness because storage media are mechanical and will fail over time.