Frank Reads Ben’s Mail
Frank uses a new book called “Poor Richard's Women” as a launching point for a discussion on how authors and others often saved their written correspondence, which could then be used as references and sources for historians and biographers. For example, most of Ben Franklin's correspondence is available in 47 volumes from Yale. But what of his emails? (Author Nancy Ruben Stuart will be at the Museum of Printing in Haverhill, Mass., on May 21 to give a talk about “Poor Richard's Women” and sign books. If you’re in the area, be sure to attend!)
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Discussion
By James Kohler on Mar 25, 2022
Frank - That is soooo true. When I given talks I always tell people that if you store stuff on an optical disc will your grands kids be able to get to the info since there are no readers anymore? Same for photos! Pirnt them!!! Storing is great but always keep a reader around. Print on paper is still the best way to store info. Paper doesn't need batteries, updates, etc.! In fact I'll be doing another Sylvamo Papers YouTube episode of the Paper Professor on the "Paperless office or society that never is happening yet!
BTW, is that a "Brick City" sweatshirt??
Jim Kohler
By Muhd Yusuf on Mar 26, 2022
Dear Frank,
I wish you a swift recovery.
By HARVEY LEVENSON on Mar 29, 2022
Frank’s video citing the works of Franklin, Fitzgerald, Shakespeare, the book, “Poor Richard’s Women,” and the longevity of print vs. electronic media was intellectually stimulating,
It reminded me that when teaching at Cal Poly, I used to teach about the virtues and benefits of printing. I’d hold up a CD, a DVD, a thumb drive, and several other external devices for storing and accessing information. I’d then ask the class: “Who can tell me how long my data would be accessible on these devices?” As expected, there was silence because no one knew, nor did they have any basis for guessing. I’d then ask: “How long is data available on printed media?” This would elicit guesses because they’ve seen old books, but none of the guesses came even close. I’d then hold up a book gifted to me that is over 100 years old, pointing out that all of the data was present and clearly readable, but we had no way of knowing if this would be the case with the electric portable devices.
Saving URLs could be particularly devastating if relying on them for use in the future, because you
are at the mercy of whoever posted the URLs. One never knows when they will be removed from
Internet access. I’ve experienced this on numerous occasions. If I had a copy of a Gutenberg Bible printed in 1456, when I would open it up, it would “speak” to me in clear Latin in its original colored ink, and display its graphic embellishments in their original colors and beautiful designs…564 years later. However, a simple black and white research paper I attempted to access from a 2003 CD would no longer open; it didn’t even last for 20 years.
A paper I wrote a few years ago explains the evolution of paper. While entitled, Paper—
Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, it could also be entitled, “The Evolution of Paper to Paper.”