Hello everyone. I come to my blog this time to complain and vent my anger.
I am to, in a couple days, pick up my Bachelor’s diploma in media arts. In order to be able to do that, I am obligated to leave digital documentation of my thesis work (my film, “The Messenger”) on a physical medium.
The medium that I am required to use to do this is a flash drive.
If you know at least a little bit about data storage, you’ll know this is an exceptionally stupid choice for a student thesis archive. I will cover all of the reasons for why this is.
The price
I will be using the currency I use, PLN. The exchange rate is around 4 PLN = 1 USD, .
I did a little running around two shopping malls with many vendors selling USB drives. Here are my findings.
A new low-end USB flash drive costs, on average, 50 PLN. And the smallest capacity that is widely available is 32 GB. So you’re buying a lot of GB that you absolutely don’t need.
I found only one vendor selling a 16GB pendrive. And the asking price was 80PLN. (Twenty. Fucking. Dollars.)
For contrast, the ideal medium for this archival case, a CD, runs you 1-2PLN - literally cents, in US dollars.
The storage waste
Most thesis works don’t go over 700 MB. A vast, vast majority of them. Even if you’re making, like, a feature film (I doubt that has happened in the history of my academy more than a couple times), you can fit a lot of video into 700MB.
Combine that with the unavailability of drives smaller than 32GB, and you have so so so much hardware laying around that could’ve had so much more data on it. Like… around 95% of that storage is just empty assuming a thesis weighs around 1GB on average.
The physical storage problem
CDs are flat, and have a standarized size and shape.
There is no standard for how big a pendrive is or how it’s shaped or what its body is made out of.
I really would like to see how they store these thesis USB drives. And how they retrieve them. Perhaps I’ll ask about it at the dean’s office.
Labelling
How do you label a CD? You take a permament marker and write on the big, flat surface of the disc. Easy.
How do you label a pendrive?
I have no fucking idea. The one I’m planning to use for my own documentation is way too small to write on.
And again, there is no standard for how big a pendrive is or how it’s shaped or what its body is made out of.
And yes, THE ACADEMY HAS REQUESTED I LABEL IT.
Durability
A standard USB pendrive lasts an average of 3 to 10 years when left unpowered for a long time. CDs typically last anywhere from 10 to 50 years.
Nuff said…
Counterpoints for CDs
700 MB is too small for a thesis work.
Then you get a DVD. Runs you around ~5PLN for around 5 gigs.
No one uses CDs anymore / There’s no equipment for it
Not true! CDs are still largely around, easily purchaseable, likely thanks to the music industry.
As for reading: An institution like the Academy of Arts surely has the budget for a couple of disc drives, or even maybe just one, for the archive. As for burning: I think it’s likely that you have a device you can dig up that is capable of this. If not, pretty much every printing shop where I live offers a service to burn files onto CDs, for a small fee, but yes, that is additional cost, and may be an option not available to some students. It’s still way less than going and buying a pendrive for 50+PLN.
This one was my dean’s office staff’s excuse:
Problem z CD jest teraz taki, że nie ma sprzętu do ich otwarcia. Dlatego jest decyzja o przynoszeniu dokumentacji na pendrivie. (“The problem with CDs right now is that there’s no equipment to open them. That’s why we’ve decided to have the documentation brought on a USB flash drive.”)
Conclusion
I am really fucking peeved about this and I will be attaching a critique of this archival strategy choice on my pendrive. Attached below.
Jako informatyk, chciałabym wyrazić mój zawód na temat decyzji o przynoszeniu dokumentacji na pendrivie. Jest to niezwykle irracjonalny wybór z kilku powodów:
- Cena: Pendrive 32GB przeciętnie kosztuje około 40zł. Mniejsze pojemności są dużo, dużo mniej dostępne.
- Zmarnowana pojemność: Mając na uwadze własny dyplom, który z racji bycia w formie filmu animowanego prawdopodobnie jest jednym z większych pojemnościowo, zakładam że w większości przypadków 95% lub więcej pojemności zostaje pusta.
- Przechowywanie: Pendrive’y nie mają standardowego rozmiaru ani kształtu.
- Oznaczanie: W jaki sposób oznaczyć pendrive’a, który nie ma wystarczającej ani odpowiedniej do pisania powierzchni?
- Żywotność: Pendrive’y umierają po około 3 do 10 latach przechowywania. Płyty CD mogą przetrwać, przeciętnie, od 10 do 50 lat.
W związku z tą decyzją, chciałabym zapytać:
- Jak Państwo przechowujecie pendrive’y i dane na nich zapisane?
- Jeśli Państwo kopiują dane z pendrive’ów do cyfrowego archiwum: co dzieje się potem z nośnikiem?
- W jaki sposób Państwo odnajdują odpowiedni pendrive, jeśli zachodzi potrzeba odczytania konkretnej dokumentacji?
Byłabym wdzięczna za odpowiedzi na te pytania, na adres: [redacted]
Pozdrawiam.
Roller out.
