Too many DAT's on the ship

My name is Nancy Kettler and I am a packrat. No, I won’t admit all those boxes in the garage are a problem… I am talking about my files. Diaries in Word, 7 year old budget plans, my taxes from 1993, my dead grandmother’s bread recipe, forwarded jokes that I just had to save, pictures I scanned, pictures I’ve taken, pictures I’ve modified, websites I’ve built, plans to take over the world… you get the idea.

I don’t think I am alone in this digital packrat club… Club? Yes, there is a club! Admitting weakness may be the first step, but I think I’ll stay out here on my own for the time being. I would really like to know what other people do with their files. Me? I used to save them on 3.5’s, later an external zip, then CD’s. Now that I have a home network with 2 dedicated storage boxes, I duplicate.

For example, last week I (finally) sent my beloved laptop in for its long overdue repairs (AGAIN!). But first I had to clean it off, Charlie-Brown-forbid that I take my chances that my precious files would be returned to me just as they left. My solution for this was to put a new dated directory on a partitioned drive on one storage box “Laptop – Date”. OCD taking its full toll, this directory even includes screen shots and README.txt files detailing my set up.

Except… I did not send my precious pal in for repair for 2 months (did I mention HP’s awesome up time even when having to nurse it along?)… because I am a student. More than this, I am a Digital Technology and Culture student. This means, I cannot do my homework without CS3’s Master Collection. Sure, I have other machines here, but none that can handle the load I impose. They’re older, and upgrading my desktops has not been a priority. After all, I have a great laptop (ha!).

My first project in Adobe After Effects as complete as I had time for, I packed up my baby and shipped it off to HP. But first I had to double check that it was file free. After having filled my storage machine to the brim and invading others’ digital storage too, I began to poke around some of the dark corners of my digital storage.

I saw that last spring when I sent my laptop in for repair (same issue!) I did the same thing. Comparing one dated directory to the other I saw duplication. This is where the crazy takes over. I don’t delete the dupe. There has to be something wrong with me – I am This concerned about data loss.

So today I poke around on the tubes for more (more! more! more!) digital storage, see what’s out there. At this point I have a fireproof safety deposit box containing portable hard drives stacked like bullion and guarded by… well, guards. But to be safe, I should probably have a backup… somewhere. Maybe another country. I have 1 of these hard drives and it goes most everywhere with me, especially since my laptop is headed for parts unknown.

Yes, yes, I do obsess over my files; however, I am sure that I am not the only one. I can’t be. Companies like this one are sprouting and blossoming. They say they’re safe, maybe I’ll give them a try. They say they use “the same encryption techniques that banks use”. Hhmm. Bank hacking isn’t exactly unique news. And why would it be? Forbes even tells us how to do it. $50 bucks a year for unlimited, encrypted storage that claims to be convenient, fast and secure. Sounds great to me… but is it too good? How solvent are companies like this and what will happen to my data should their buildings burn down or the top IT guy locks everyone out and moves to an uncharted isle to raise dust mites from harvested sock lint.

Corporate America is with me on tackling this problem. Enter companies like this one aimed at industry and offering some pretty cool specialized services. Clearly the market is ripe, what with all this digitizing with wild abandon. I’m not just talking about your HR file or transcripts here either, some of this data is personal and intimate, and really, not any one’s or any company’s business.

How much is too much? As precious as my files are to me… there was a time in my life when I had no files. No – it’s true… I had no files, no disks and if I needed to play solitaire I had to actually get up and go find some rectangular printed paper things that came in a small box.

Is there a downside to this information deluge? They do say we will someday run out space for digital data. How and who determines which data is important? Somehow, I fear that will come down to the same necessary evil everything comes down to: Those with the dollars have the rights. Thems with the bills come first.

How might so much of this information be used in the future? And should it be?