XFER-00 TRANSFER IN PROGRESS ●
MEM-01 THE WORLD’S MEMORY
Share of the world’s stored information that is DIGITAL. Crossover: 2002 [Wikipedia]
<1% 1986 2.6 EB
3% 1993 15.7 EB
25% 2000 54.5 EB
94% 2007 295 EB
>99% 2014 ~5,000 EB
1986–2007: Hilbert & López (2011, Science) via Wikipedia: Information Age + Digital Revolution. 2014 is a later estimate, not from the 2011 study.
GEO-02 REFERENCE
76 COUNTRIES WITH AT-RISK TAPE [IASA]
DIGITAL AGE BEGAN · 2002 —
KODACHROME ENDED · 2010 —
LAST VCR · FUNAI 2016 —
EST. HOURS OF ANALOG MEMORY DIGITIZED WORLDWIDE IN 2026
0
YEAR 0%
EST. ANALOG ITEMS DIGITIZED WORLDWIDE TODAY
0
estimate · see METHODOLOGY //
EM-04 BE KIND — WE REWIND
DIGITIZED TODAY
0
HOURS THIS YEAR
0
estimate · see METHODOLOGY //
⚠ DK-05 SIGNAL FADING
TIME PAST THE IASA “AROUND 2025” TAPE DEADLINE
—
“Routine transfer of magnetic tape documents is estimated to end around 2025.” — IASA / UNESCO
- ▸ Tape degrades after 10–20 yrs; 70s–80s tapes hit “sticky-shed” [Wikipedia]
- ▸ 8.5 M+ at-risk items surveyed in 76 countries — 4.4 M audio · 4.1 M video [IASA]
- ▸ ~90% of pre-1920 US silent films lost — and ~50% of pre-1950 sound films [Wikipedia]