This USB flash drive can only store 8KB of data, but will last you 200 years(tomshardware.com)
tomshardware.com
This USB flash drive can only store 8KB of data, but will last you 200 years
https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/usb-flash-drives/this-usb-flash-drive-can-only-store-8kb-of-data-but-will-last-you-200-years
84 comments
>Plus, why would you believe that (working) systems able to read USB drives will be available in 200+ years?
This. The best long term archival media that can outlive generations has proven to be non-electronic ones (paper manuscripts, animal hides, cave paintings, rock engravings, etc).
Even if you can still find USB readers 200+ years from now when we'll all use quantum computers and wear AR headsets or neuralink implants (provided we don't extinct ourselves through war and climate change till then), there's no guarantee the systems of the future will still be able to read file systems and data formats encoded in the standards of today, but to read stuff off paper/stone all you need is your eyes, no technology.
For example, some retro computing youtubers I follow are struggling to decode 5.25" floppy data from 50 years ago because it was encoded in some niche proprietary non-standard format that modern SW has no idea about, so they have to low-level scan the magnetic flux off the things and then trial and error various encodings hoping something will stick. Meanwhile, a random small church in my country just found 500 year old books in its attic that are perfectly preserved and readable, and they have survived a church fire and over a dozen wars.
Not saying such USB drives aren't useful for a specific niche, I'm sure they are, but if you're looking for 200+ year endurance you'll definitely want to diversify your data storage to non-electronic mediums as well and not bank it all on a USB drive with new unproven technology.
This. The best long term archival media that can outlive generations has proven to be non-electronic ones (paper manuscripts, animal hides, cave paintings, rock engravings, etc).
Even if you can still find USB readers 200+ years from now when we'll all use quantum computers and wear AR headsets or neuralink implants (provided we don't extinct ourselves through war and climate change till then), there's no guarantee the systems of the future will still be able to read file systems and data formats encoded in the standards of today, but to read stuff off paper/stone all you need is your eyes, no technology.
For example, some retro computing youtubers I follow are struggling to decode 5.25" floppy data from 50 years ago because it was encoded in some niche proprietary non-standard format that modern SW has no idea about, so they have to low-level scan the magnetic flux off the things and then trial and error various encodings hoping something will stick. Meanwhile, a random small church in my country just found 500 year old books in its attic that are perfectly preserved and readable, and they have survived a church fire and over a dozen wars.
Not saying such USB drives aren't useful for a specific niche, I'm sure they are, but if you're looking for 200+ year endurance you'll definitely want to diversify your data storage to non-electronic mediums as well and not bank it all on a USB drive with new unproven technology.
> there's no guarantee the systems of the future will still be able to read file systems and data formats encoded in the standards of today
If modern society survives continuously for 200 years, I don't see any reason we couldn't read current formats if they're actually standard and/or well-documented; we can, for example, still read original unix filesystems, if nothing else by running actual original unix in (open)simh, and that's 45-50 years old already.
If modern society survives continuously for 200 years, I don't see any reason we couldn't read current formats if they're actually standard and/or well-documented; we can, for example, still read original unix filesystems, if nothing else by running actual original unix in (open)simh, and that's 45-50 years old already.
OK, but what about more than 200 years? What about the next civilizations?
Also, a lot can happen in 200 years that can have unforeseen effect on the FRAM of that USB stick (EMPs from nuclear explosions, solar storms, etc)
Also, a lot can happen in 200 years that can have unforeseen effect on the FRAM of that USB stick (EMPs from nuclear explosions, solar storms, etc)
Sure, there's a reason I scoped to data formats within the continuity of this civilization (ish). I agree that the hardware side is harder (albeit not impossible for the stated target), I'm mostly trying to push back on the idea that civilization and computers will be completely unrecognizable in what is honestly not that long a timeframe in context. If you want to make something last arbitrarily long or through electronics-destroying events, then yes you should consider other options (or really, multiple options at once), but I think that's moving the goalposts.
60 years on we haven't forgotten how to read EBCDIC. Punch cards can still be deciphered. Most languages aren't unrecognizable from what they were 200 years ago. I don't think we'd have much issue reading an USB stick in 200 years.
Punch cards you cand decode with your eyes, you don't need tech for that. Good luck with USB drives in 200 years.
Even old USB 1.0 devices sometimes struggle on modern HW.
Even old USB 1.0 devices sometimes struggle on modern HW.
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Microsoft is working on a way to modernize rock engravings by etching binary data in glass: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/project/project-sil...
Despite the claimed 10,000 year lifespan, I doubt this will satisfy the kind of hackernews who prefixes four-digit years with an '0' like 02024. We just don't know whether we will have or be able to make the machinery to read it back millennia from now. It will make a nice archival solution for businesses and governments who want a data preservation solution over a time horizon of decades to centuries, though.
Despite the claimed 10,000 year lifespan, I doubt this will satisfy the kind of hackernews who prefixes four-digit years with an '0' like 02024. We just don't know whether we will have or be able to make the machinery to read it back millennia from now. It will make a nice archival solution for businesses and governments who want a data preservation solution over a time horizon of decades to centuries, though.
>It will make a nice archival solution for businesses and governments who want a data preservation solution over a time horizon of decades to centuries, though.
I doubt it. Even governments and businesses suck at preservation: just look at game studios who loose source code of valuable IP they themselves developed 20+ years ago. People working there just don't care about something so long term when their own skin isn't in the game and they're not getting paid enough for it to care much about what happens when they're gone or what their predecessors did.
This isn't the famous Voyager space probe where people hang around well past their retirement date to keep something alive due to emotional attachment, in most cases digital data just is left to rot and die out as people leave companies/institutions and new people come in with different agendas and career goals.
Microsoft's magic Tesseract data storage cube is cool, but good luck finding the tech to read it 10k years from now when Microsoft is long gone. Written paper and cave drawings will outlive us all.
I doubt it. Even governments and businesses suck at preservation: just look at game studios who loose source code of valuable IP they themselves developed 20+ years ago. People working there just don't care about something so long term when their own skin isn't in the game and they're not getting paid enough for it to care much about what happens when they're gone or what their predecessors did.
This isn't the famous Voyager space probe where people hang around well past their retirement date to keep something alive due to emotional attachment, in most cases digital data just is left to rot and die out as people leave companies/institutions and new people come in with different agendas and career goals.
Microsoft's magic Tesseract data storage cube is cool, but good luck finding the tech to read it 10k years from now when Microsoft is long gone. Written paper and cave drawings will outlive us all.
For every person saying the year is 02024 there are at least a few who are thinking "its not year 1044 decimal?"
It's likely that there will be an I2C-enabled FRAM chip on there, though there are a few other devices which could hold those FRAM cells. I2C is ubiquitous, even more so than USB, and trivial to implement. There will certainly be enough information available to access those in 200 years, even if there's no USB anymore.
> There will certainly be enough information available to access those in 200 years
Still depends on humans in 200 years having use of computers and electricity. Civilisational collapse would likely mean humans will lose those skills (like we forgot how to make cement/concrete after the fall of the Roman empire and it took 1000 years to rediscover).
Still depends on humans in 200 years having use of computers and electricity. Civilisational collapse would likely mean humans will lose those skills (like we forgot how to make cement/concrete after the fall of the Roman empire and it took 1000 years to rediscover).
The idea to start with USB at the first place is ridiculous. If it can't be printed on paper it should be based on some kind of dead simple serial protocol with relatively low baudrate so almost anyone with description of that protocol can reconstruct it on computational device used 200 years in the future.
The USB itself is thousands of lines of code for USB driver in computer and special USB physical interface as well which might not be even manufactured in 200 years.
It would be like today looking on some crazy parallel interface from 70s using non standard bit sizes (i.e 12 bit sizes bus) with complicated timing patterns and 5V TTL on physical layer if you are lucky.
The USB itself is thousands of lines of code for USB driver in computer and special USB physical interface as well which might not be even manufactured in 200 years.
It would be like today looking on some crazy parallel interface from 70s using non standard bit sizes (i.e 12 bit sizes bus) with complicated timing patterns and 5V TTL on physical layer if you are lucky.
To be fair it's just SPI and a big package, super easy to read even centuries from now. I don't think we will somehow forget everything about basic electronics.
Lead time / effort / skills / equipment to access printed data after >200 years: zero / minimal / basic literacy / any light source a person can easily read by
Vs. reading data on this device, 200+ years out?
Vs. reading data on this device, 200+ years out?
> Lead time / effort / skills / equipment to access printed data after >200 years
As long as it hasn't burned, or crumbled, or molded, or...
As long as it hasn't burned, or crumbled, or molded, or...
Just need 3 switches and an indicator light
> find an old daisy-wheel printer
I'm definitely on board with the analog approach, but this is interesting. What's the reason for recommending a daisy-wheel printer compared to other printing technologies? Is it just that the deformation caused by the impact of the type serves as additional redundancy or is the ink (or its adhesion to the paper) somehow superior to other printing processes in this regard?
I'm definitely on board with the analog approach, but this is interesting. What's the reason for recommending a daisy-wheel printer compared to other printing technologies? Is it just that the deformation caused by the impact of the type serves as additional redundancy or is the ink (or its adhesion to the paper) somehow superior to other printing processes in this regard?
My Reason: Low-tech ink, with a long-established track record of Just Working over long periods of time. (The deformation might help in corner cases such as poor storage conditions.) Vs. the plastic in laser printer toner might disintegrate in a few centuries, and chemical engineers may not know all the ways that modern inkjet formulations could degrade over time.
>Plus, why would you believe that (working) systems able to read USB drives will be available in 200+ years?
Unless we hit another Dark Ages, I think its safe to assume the USB standard will survive.
Unless we hit another Dark Ages, I think its safe to assume the USB standard will survive.
This gadget is still interesting for its price. It's about as expensive as 50 sheets of archival quality paper and a lot more convenient.
If you want to assure durability there are better methods. Good paper, parchment, fired clay, or high tech ideas like storing data in glass. But in terms of easy and cheap methods for one or two human lifespans this occupies a niche (together with archival-quality CDs and the like)
If you want to assure durability there are better methods. Good paper, parchment, fired clay, or high tech ideas like storing data in glass. But in terms of easy and cheap methods for one or two human lifespans this occupies a niche (together with archival-quality CDs and the like)
> That'll be good for a thousand years or so
Unless a dog eats it
Unless a dog eats it
https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2024/03/03/archiving-data-on-...
200k on paper. 30k if you don't want to require an actual sheet scanner to read it.
To read it requires software, but it's open source software not tied to any particular hardware or os platform, and you use any kind of imaging hardware you want of the time. It doesn't matter how much cameras or os's change in the future.
Also FRAM reading is destructive. FRAM internally destroys and re-creates the data every time it's read. MRAM does not. idk offhand how the two compare on things like data loss from environmental stresses like extended periods at low or high temperatures, or thermal cycling etc.
200k on paper. 30k if you don't want to require an actual sheet scanner to read it.
To read it requires software, but it's open source software not tied to any particular hardware or os platform, and you use any kind of imaging hardware you want of the time. It doesn't matter how much cameras or os's change in the future.
Also FRAM reading is destructive. FRAM internally destroys and re-creates the data every time it's read. MRAM does not. idk offhand how the two compare on things like data loss from environmental stresses like extended periods at low or high temperatures, or thermal cycling etc.
For 8KB, you’re better off just using paper and storing it properly.
After having to retype a couple of armor'ed PGP keys printed on paper, your opinion may change.
PaperBack is a free application that allows you to back up your precious files on the ordinary paper in the form of the oversized bitmaps. If you have a good laser printer with the 600 dpi resolution, you can save up to 500,000 bytes of uncompressed data on the single A4/Letter sheet. Integrated packer allows for much better data density - up to 3,000,000+ (three megabytes) of C code per page.
For 600 dpi printer you will need a scanner with at least 900 dpi physical (let me emphasize, physical, not interpolated) resolution.
https://ollydbg.de/Paperbak/#1
For 600 dpi printer you will need a scanner with at least 900 dpi physical (let me emphasize, physical, not interpolated) resolution.
https://ollydbg.de/Paperbak/#1
Qr codes on paper?
Good idea, nothing wrong with including a QR code on the first page. Would serve as a Rosetta Stone for other QRs if specification gets lost.
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Is OCR still not working reliably with all the recent innovations in ML?
if it's important enough to archive for hundreds of years it's worth that. Your whataboutism helps nothing, champ.
Or a stone tablet. Encryption won’t matter in 200 years anyway
That's pretty cool, but we're already past a few generations of devices that were supposed to store data for decades and we no longer have computer with interfaces to use them. What are the chances that people will know what USB is in 50 years?
I'd say USB has pretty good chances, because it's everywhere. It's already (checks wikipedia) 28 years old and AFAIK completely backwards compatible; I wouldn't be terribly surprised if in 50 years we're still actively using USB 9.0 or whatever and you can still plug in USB 1.x devices to then-current computers (possibly through adapter(s), if we ever manage to obsolete the Type A connector)
29 years is still shorter than we used cd/dvd roms
CDs yes, but point of fact wikipedia says DVDs are actually (very slightly) younger than USB. Regardless, surely that's just more examples in favor of us being able to still read widely-deployed tech in 50 years? I'll grant that with the right materials, under the right conditions, optical media might well outlive this thing, but that 1. contains important caveats (plenty of optical media degrades within <5 years AIUI) and 2. doesn't invalidate the usefulness of this, just offers other options.
The post[0] that seems to be this article's source would be a better link.
The Tom's article spins it as a pointless storage device and pushes the key feature of it including a built-in serial terminal text editor down under several paragraphs of snark.
I'm not telling you to buy one and I don't know who needs one, but it's a bit unfair to judge it as an archival storage device when it doesn't even seem to be trying to be one.
One extra pedantic point: assuming one could reasonably expect 200 years out of not only the FRAM but the rest of it as well... you don't really want your really good data to survive 199 years before a catastrophic slightly early failure so maybe leave instructions to access and/or duplicate the data before, say, half-time (100 years).
[0] https://www.cnx-software.com/2024/05/15/blaustahl-usb-storag...
The Tom's article spins it as a pointless storage device and pushes the key feature of it including a built-in serial terminal text editor down under several paragraphs of snark.
I'm not telling you to buy one and I don't know who needs one, but it's a bit unfair to judge it as an archival storage device when it doesn't even seem to be trying to be one.
One extra pedantic point: assuming one could reasonably expect 200 years out of not only the FRAM but the rest of it as well... you don't really want your really good data to survive 199 years before a catastrophic slightly early failure so maybe leave instructions to access and/or duplicate the data before, say, half-time (100 years).
[0] https://www.cnx-software.com/2024/05/15/blaustahl-usb-storag...
Could just buy the chip itself for less than a dollar, connect it to Arduino or rpi and write it yourself: https://www.lcsc.com/datasheet/lcsc_datasheet_2112091730_FUJ...
Or go with the 64kb version for 6 dollars.
Or go with the 64kb version for 6 dollars.
What will be the cost to engrave in stone covered in resin?
Taking this way too seriously[0], quite likely more than the USB drive, given its retail price of €29.95[1].
Note that I've omitted any shipping fees -- that comparison is likely to fall in the USB drive's favour, in any case.
[0] but ignoring obvious simple answers like "depends on the size of the stone"
[1] https://machdyne.com/product/blaustahl-storage-device/
[0] but ignoring obvious simple answers like "depends on the size of the stone"
[1] https://machdyne.com/product/blaustahl-storage-device/
The comments here are getting hung up on the 200 years claim. The point is not that the information will last literally 200 years; it’s that it will last long enough for you to transfer it to a more modern medium when the time comes.
In general it's good to have products with reliability as a first class citizen, but the best way to keep data for lots of years is to replicate them onto a reliable media from time to time.
Apart from written down/printed well is there any other really reliable long term storage?
Archival quality blu-ray (such as M-DISKs) can purportedly last hundreds of years and will outlast any electromagnetic events that would destroy other magnetic/electric-based storage mediums.
As others in the thread mention, the key difficulty is reading and interpreting the etched pits on the disk hundreds of years after the spec is obsolete.
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Obviously this is just niche market to try and commercialize FeRAM.
But the long term storage angle doesn't make much sense to me, you can get 8kb in a couple of QR codes.
Much better would be to market the number of read-write cycles as the USP over flash - so you could use it as some kind of constantly updated but persistent, encryption key or parity code or whatever.
But the long term storage angle doesn't make much sense to me, you can get 8kb in a couple of QR codes.
Much better would be to market the number of read-write cycles as the USP over flash - so you could use it as some kind of constantly updated but persistent, encryption key or parity code or whatever.
200 years, will "computers" then even have a usb interface?
The seller[1] mentions that: 'In the event that the USB interface were to become obsolete or the RP2040 were to become non-functional, it should still be possible to recover the FRAM data using a SOP-8 test clip. The FRAM IC is marked “RS64”.'
[1]: https://machdyne.com/product/blaustahl-storage-device/
[1]: https://machdyne.com/product/blaustahl-storage-device/
Everything today has USB. The historians and collectors of the future will be able to read it no doubt. A typical computer, maybe not
It would be good for storing passwords that you don't want to lose (assuming the USB drive is stored in a safe place.... Like in a safe or under your bed)
If you have specs for 8k and 200 years, I'd basically give you an engraved stone tablet. It even has a proven track record for this .
This is perfect for doing back of the envelope calculations on interstellar probes.
If it was put together with tin solder it's not lasting 200 years.
Now I'm curious what other parts of this device could last 'over 200 years.' Whats the next weak link on the chain? Is contact corrosion the ultimate limiting factor?
Possible failure modes:
- ESD / supply voltage spikes. This device has basically zero protection against them. The RP2040 is well-known to be quite sensitive to them, so I'd expect it to kill the controller relatively quickly. The FRAM chip itself isn't as exposed, but could still be damaged.
- USB-A becoming obsolete. I fully expect USB-C to replace it on new machines within a decade - and we'll probably switch to something completely novel within the next 50 years or so. You'd have to get a PC out of a museum to access it.
- Flash failure. The data is stored on an FRAM chip, but the controller's firmware isn't. That chip is rated for 20 years (but I do expect it to last quite a bit longer).
- Crystal oscillator failure. It's literally a crystal, which is vibrating. They can fail.
- LDO fail-closed, exposing the MCU, flash, and FRAM chips to an overvoltage.
- Tin whiskers. The device is almost certainly using lead-free solder, which means it is susceptible to the solder growing tiny "spikes", which can lead to shorts. We've gotten quite good at managing these over the years, but all bets are off when it comes to a 200-year scale.
Most of those can probably be recovered from, as you'd still be able to attach debugging tools directly to the chip and bypass the controller. The biggest risk is probably losing the documentation, which makes accessing it an awful lot harder.
- ESD / supply voltage spikes. This device has basically zero protection against them. The RP2040 is well-known to be quite sensitive to them, so I'd expect it to kill the controller relatively quickly. The FRAM chip itself isn't as exposed, but could still be damaged.
- USB-A becoming obsolete. I fully expect USB-C to replace it on new machines within a decade - and we'll probably switch to something completely novel within the next 50 years or so. You'd have to get a PC out of a museum to access it.
- Flash failure. The data is stored on an FRAM chip, but the controller's firmware isn't. That chip is rated for 20 years (but I do expect it to last quite a bit longer).
- Crystal oscillator failure. It's literally a crystal, which is vibrating. They can fail.
- LDO fail-closed, exposing the MCU, flash, and FRAM chips to an overvoltage.
- Tin whiskers. The device is almost certainly using lead-free solder, which means it is susceptible to the solder growing tiny "spikes", which can lead to shorts. We've gotten quite good at managing these over the years, but all bets are off when it comes to a 200-year scale.
Most of those can probably be recovered from, as you'd still be able to attach debugging tools directly to the chip and bypass the controller. The biggest risk is probably losing the documentation, which makes accessing it an awful lot harder.
> It incorporates a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller, making it suitable for various secure storage applications in case it can fit into a tiny amount of storage space.
I'm going to make a safe bet that there's no way any of the capacitors involved survive anywhere near that long. Now of course, technically the data is still there, but I doubt it in 200 years it's going to be all that easy to replace the microcontroller while retaining that data. A competitor in this race would be the connector:
> The Blaustahl includes 4MB of NOR flash for firmware and a USB Type-A male port that requires no additional drivers on most operating systems.
Something tells me that USB type-A is unlikely to survive the next 200 years.
I'm going to make a safe bet that there's no way any of the capacitors involved survive anywhere near that long. Now of course, technically the data is still there, but I doubt it in 200 years it's going to be all that easy to replace the microcontroller while retaining that data. A competitor in this race would be the connector:
> The Blaustahl includes 4MB of NOR flash for firmware and a USB Type-A male port that requires no additional drivers on most operating systems.
Something tells me that USB type-A is unlikely to survive the next 200 years.
Ceramic capacitors should be fine, right?
The pico microcontroller, on the other hand, has normal flash and won't last very long. Here's an interesting article:
https://www.ni.com/en/support/documentation/supplemental/12/...
Maybe keep it in the freezer?
Otherwise I would expect tin whiskers or some other process to dominate reliability at long periods.
The pico microcontroller, on the other hand, has normal flash and won't last very long. Here's an interesting article:
https://www.ni.com/en/support/documentation/supplemental/12/...
Maybe keep it in the freezer?
Otherwise I would expect tin whiskers or some other process to dominate reliability at long periods.
Can't find info on what kind of capacitors they use but [1] suggests certain kinds of ceramics can only last ~10 years.
More generally, all electronic components can fail [2] and there's a lot of such components in this device. This is applying component-level thinking to a systems level problem with no real way to verify their claim (they don't even claim to have done any aging test to try to simulate how long the device could last) and why this should be called out as nothing more than a marketing gimmick.
[1] https://www.edn.com/class-2-ceramic-capacitors-can-you-trust...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failure_of_electronic_componen...
More generally, all electronic components can fail [2] and there's a lot of such components in this device. This is applying component-level thinking to a systems level problem with no real way to verify their claim (they don't even claim to have done any aging test to try to simulate how long the device could last) and why this should be called out as nothing more than a marketing gimmick.
[1] https://www.edn.com/class-2-ceramic-capacitors-can-you-trust...
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Failure_of_electronic_componen...
Ironically by having its firmware in its NOR flash they are now subject to the same lifetime limitations.
Are you sure? You^H^H^H your grand-grand-grand-grand children will probably be able to get an usb-g to usb-f to usb-e to usb-d to usb-c to usb-a adapter chain.
Hey, what happened to usb-b?
Hey, what happened to usb-b?
A is the “host” side and B is the “device” side of that connector. A full-size USB-B connector is most commonly seen on printers; micro-B for old android phones.
USB-B is the thing that's on the other side of cables with USB-A. A large, square-ish port that got even larger when it was extended for USB 3, with a connector that got even larger. That's the port that mini-USB and micro-USB are mini and micro versions of.
You can find USB-B ports on e.g. laser printers (where size doesn't matter) or on some older USB drives (where you'd want USB 3 speeds).
You can find USB-B ports on e.g. laser printers (where size doesn't matter) or on some older USB drives (where you'd want USB 3 speeds).
Oh right. I've had it for printers but I already forgot.
I think i even had a sata to usb box using the huge usb 3 version.
Those were fine-ish, but their micro versions can't die in a nuclear explosion fast enough...
I think i even had a sata to usb box using the huge usb 3 version.
Those were fine-ish, but their micro versions can't die in a nuclear explosion fast enough...
USB-B is the other end of a USB-A cable that plugs into the peripheral rather than plugging into the computer. But peripherals all started getting so small that they switched to USB-mini/USB-micro, and the only large peripherals left are printers, which is pretty much the only place you'll see it used. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_hardware#Connectors
Yes. It's important to remember that we've already lost connectors from < 100 years ago. Now USB-A does have a lot more mass production and popularity for it today which does have something going for it. But remember that changeovers happen quickly and 200 years is enough time that anyone who cares about the legacy dies and there's no market to sustain the adapters. 200 years from now you'd expect all physical connectors to have disappeared with wireless variants taking their place.
> I'm going to make a safe bet that there's no way any of the capacitors involved survive anywhere near that long.
Why? All capacitors on the flash drive are MLCCs, which unlike their electrolytic counterparts aren't exactly known for failing - let alone simply due to age. When push comes to shove you can just remove them without meaningfully impacting functionality anyways.
Why? All capacitors on the flash drive are MLCCs, which unlike their electrolytic counterparts aren't exactly known for failing - let alone simply due to age. When push comes to shove you can just remove them without meaningfully impacting functionality anyways.
Both [1] and [2] suggests that the lifetime of ceramic capacitors is generally limited. I can't find details on whether the Pi uses type 1 or type 2, but my guess would still be the capacitor with other components within the CPU failing before the 200 years. The USB would definitely still fail (physically or logically) before the 200 years is up.
[1] https://page.venkel.com/hubfs/1_Images/Resource%20Center/Cro...
[2] https://www.edn.com/class-2-ceramic-capacitors-can-you-trust...
[1] https://page.venkel.com/hubfs/1_Images/Resource%20Center/Cro...
[2] https://www.edn.com/class-2-ceramic-capacitors-can-you-trust...
Do things like the upgradable firmware and integrated text editor live in a path that's separate from the 8KB of data? If not I'd fear it would die before the actual storage did.
I also vaguely recall that Sonic 3 used this storage type? Like it was a weird outlier for cartridge-based saves IIRC.
Edit: Yeah, it did: https://hackaday.io/project/13425-sonic-3-feram-adapter
I also vaguely recall that Sonic 3 used this storage type? Like it was a weird outlier for cartridge-based saves IIRC.
Edit: Yeah, it did: https://hackaday.io/project/13425-sonic-3-feram-adapter
It's just marketing BS. 0 chance they tested durability for years.
> It incorporates a Raspberry Pi RP2040
... which is certainly not guaranteed for 200 yrs.
... which is certainly not guaranteed for 200 yrs.
[deleted]
> The Blaustahl USB storage device by Machdyne features 8KB of FRAM and is designed for long-term text storage, potentially lasting over 200 years. It incorporates a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller
Contradiction in terms.
I mean, maybe i'm asking too much, but a reliability training for journalists, will be nice. /s
Contradiction in terms.
I mean, maybe i'm asking too much, but a reliability training for journalists, will be nice. /s
SO - unless the data you're storing is worth a major effort by future computer historians, just find an old daisy-wheel printer, and save your 8K to archival quality paper. That'll be good for a thousand years or so.