Written by Liriam Tobar and featuring Caitlyn Deeter
October is American Archives and Cybersecurity Awareness Month! As spooky season comes upon us, I would like to tell you what horrifies Digital Archivists the most…TECHNOLOGICAL OBSOLESCENCE. The mere mention of the term will send shivers down our spines. So, one must ask the question: what even is technological obsolescence?
It refers to the state when hardware and/or software has been replaced by newer technology, often (but not always) due to technological advances.[1]
“What is the big deal with Technological Obsolescence? Why does it cause fear?”
Good question, Mr. Wolfman. It is kind of a hairy topic. As a digital archivist, it is our job to preserve, organize, and provide access to digital materials. When tech stops working, there is no way to use or access the expired media that uses that obsolete technology. If we can’t create a backup, then it is as if the media never existed. It becomes a ghost and the only memory of it is an urban legend. Think of the saying “if a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound?” It is more of a philosophical question, asking if something exists if no one is there to observe it.
“What do we need to watch out for?”
I’m glad you asked Jason, now put down the machete so I can further explain it to you! The medium that is most vulnerable to this type of obsolescence is magnetic tape. Think audio cassette tapes, video cassette tapes, 3.5-inch and 5.25-inch floppy disks, zip disk, VHS, Betamax, Betacam, U-Matic, etc. All of which were commonly used throughout the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, the heyday of slasher films. These types of mediums have an expiration date of about 25 to 30 years. Some of these mediums can be played on their designated players well after their supposed expiration date, but the magnetic tape does degrade and can dip in sound and video quality.
Media that used magnetic tape also had no consistency with regard to the kind of technology needed to play them. Each type of tape used a proprietary player, meaning that the specifics of that tech were never made public and generic versions were never made. That’s not such a big problem with things like VHS, where plenty of secondhand players still exist, but when was the last time you stumbled across a U-Matic or an EIAJ-1 reel-to-reel player?
“What can be done?!”
This is where the TECH GRAVEYARD comes in! It is a place where old tech goes to die, but it still gets visitors. In our college archives, we have a dedicated space on our supplies shelf that holds these items. It is full of various players, readers, cables, converters, and — most importantly — adapters. I am consistently adding to it when I come across obsolete tech from thrift stores, flea markets, and IT departments getting rid of old items.
One such tool that can breathe new life into the dying media is the capture card, which may be best known in the content creation sphere. You might know capture cards as a tool used by your favorite YouTuber and/or Streamer, it captures footage from their game console to upload to the internet. However, they can also be used as a practical tool for converting, recording, and preserving historic media formats. Some capture cards support Composite (RCA) cables and convert older analog videos to a more modern digital format. This allows editing programs such as Adobe Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, and others to restore, edit, and preserve older videos.
Audio formats follow a similar process, but on a simpler scale. Cassette decks output audio through larger jacks, usually RCA connectors or ¼-inch audio plugs, rather than the smaller 3.5mm ports most computers use today. With a simple adapter—such as a ¼-inch to 3.5mm cable—these signals can be rerouted into a computer’s line-in or through a USB audio interface. Once connected, audio editing software like Audacity can capture and save the audio in modern formats. Without software to capture the audio, your computer is simply a speaker. By specifying the correct audio input in audio editing software, the connected computer can record the sound. From there, the audio can then be saved, remixed, or edited before exporting to modern formats like MP3 or WAV. You can endlessly replay your favorite screams, or eerie waterphone recordings.
Both increasingly depend on the maintenance of legacy hardware – and to an extent, software – to preserve and restore digital media as the lifespan of technologies is shortening. These are just some of the tools archivists use on a daily basis. We re-animate these once dead mediums so they might spring to life and live again.
If you would like to see more of the vintage odd media materials we have in person, come check out our October archives exhibit “Ask Your Parents About These: Tech Graveyard and It’s Inhabitants” featuring these media types. Located on the main floor of Olin Library.
[1] https://www.sciencehistory.org/collections/blog/it-came-from-the-technology-graveyard/