BBC: Floppy disks in Japan: Minister declares war on old-fashioned technology. “Japan’s digital minister has ‘declared war’ on floppy disks and other retro tech used by the country’s bureaucrats. Around 1,900 government procedures still require businesses to use the storage devices, plus CDs and mini-discs, Taro Kono said.”
Ars Technica: New Windows Media Player app travels back in time, gains the ability to rip CDs. “In March, Microsoft enabled audio CD playback in the new version of Media Player, something that the old version had supported for pretty much as long as it had existed. And now, Microsoft is rolling out support for CD ripping in the new version of Media Player, presumably so that we can all convert our old Weezer and Matchbox 20 CDs into files we can copy over to our iPods and Zunes.”
The Verge: A small Wisconsin company stored thousands of people’s CDs, then suddenly vanished. “Last month, almost a million CDs stored in Wisconsin seemed to disappear. For years, thousands of people paid a Madison-based company, named Murfie, to rip, stream, and store their CDs, vinyl, and cassettes. But a few weeks ago, Murfie’s website went offline and nearly all communication from the company ceased. Now, customers fear their physical music collections may be lost forever.”
I suppose someone has to. From Techspot: The Internet Archive is collecting AOL free trial CDs. “One era’s trash is another era’s treasure. That’s perhaps the best way I can think to describe the Internet Archive’s latest collection. The non-profit digital library is in the process of collecting something that was next to impossible to avoid in the 1990s – the venerable AOL CD-ROM.”
Motherboard: The Hidden Phenomenon That Could Ruin Your Old Discs. “Often, it looks like a coffee stain—a noticeable discoloration that for whatever reason you can’t get rid of. Sometimes, it looks like tiny pin pricks on the surface of a compact disc. And there are other times when the whole thing changes color. In any case, when you run into what’s known as disc rot, you’re out a great album or an interesting movie.”
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