The biggest problem is deterioration of the media. The storage life of CD media isn't even close to 50,000 years. Normal aluminum film CDs are only good for about 100 years and recordable CD media is around 20 (although it varies widely depending on the type). The longest lasting ones, gold film CD masters, will last less than 1,000 years.
Oh well. I guess they'll find out the hard way 50,000 years from now.
-James Rogers
jamesr@best.com
At 04:27 PM 4/16/99 -0400, you wrote:
>
>OK but let's say that 50,000 years from now, the geography is so altered
>that satellite goes *plop* into the ocean/major fault line/volcano crater.
>It's then unrecoverable. Let's also say that 50,000 yrs from now nobody
>knows what a CD is, and labels it a "religious/ritual item" or
>"decorative".
>
>What if they invent time travel, no matter what we think, and have gone
>back into our time, and are posing as KEO to get free artifacts to bring
>with them since currency is no longer used and they can't buy their own
>cd's/satellites? Ow, my head.
>
>- Tamara
>zygant@tdsecurities.com
>