I realised I've made a few posts now about digitising and archiving media:

I'm finding this quite rewarding - there's something about writing and sharing information with no idea of who will find it interesting, but sharing in the hope that someone will.

A while back I digitised a 1969 recording my dad made of the moon landing, so I've uploaded it to the Internet archive where you can listen to it:

Archive.org - moon landing and walk

It contains the famous words:

16:48: "Houston - Tranquality base here. The eagle has landed"

…and I love the very British understatement by the commentator at 17:00 - "Well that's marvellous".

I digitised this a few years ago and wish I'd kept the original tape and recorder - there's something very tactile about the warm valve* smell, and the physicality of the force needed to press the buttons. (valve = "tube" - should I have any readers outside the UK)

HMV_reel_to_reel_recorder.jpg

These tapes survived 47 years and this has got me thinking about longevity of digital media, and archiving in general. There's an interesting documentary on YouTube - VPRO Documentary 2014 - Digital Amnesia about this subject.

I want to learn more about the Internet archive and its work - thank you to Brewster Kahle and all who work there for their vision. I recommend this talk too - "Universal Access to All Knowledge".

https://media.ccc.de/v/camp2015-6939-towards_universal_access_to_all_knowledge_internet_archive