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DP Review: Web rot is erasing our images and videos
https://www.dpreview.com/opinion/0517674260/web-rot-is-erasing-our-images-and-videos
The Internet is burning away our photos, videos and older websites daily. At nearly 40 years old, the Internet had lost much of its early history to changing technology and corporate and user desires.
DP Review, the iconic digital photography e-zine and online forum, the cornerstone of the digital camera revolution of the 00’s, has barely escaped being shut down by its parent company, Amazon, and the subsequent deletion of all its content just earlier this Summer when it was acquired by Gear Patrol. This is why, probably, the topic of content disappearing from the web hits close to home for Shaminder Dulai, DP Review staff writer.
In his clear and well-thought-out essay he researched two major reasons for the so called web rot, the disappearance of old content from the web over time: change in technologies and the desire of the tech corporations, the owners of the web platforms we all use, to cut costs without second thought about preservation of the users’ content.
He suggests to take preservation of our digital treasures
in our own hands, because we can’t trust this mission to the corporate spreadsheets. Some things require a heart.