THE digital dark ages refers to a future where it will be difficult or impossible to read historical electronic documents and other media because they have been recorded, built or stored in what is an obsolete and obscure file format, or the compatible software is no longer available.
Remember VHS tapes and floppy discs? Fast forward 50 years and society may be unable to access and read data we are so vociferously storing today.
It is easy with digital media to store thousands of photographs instead of printing them like our parents did. I remember only keeping the best photographs, stored in a photograph album.
They were important family heirlooms designed to be handed down from generation to generation.
But how many of us now print and store photographs that way? To a large extent, Facebook and cloud software has become the new photo album - to the point now where Facebook invites you to nominate an heir to your login when you die.