NY Times: Digitized History

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NY Times: Digitized History
Meanwhile, stuff itself is in serious trouble. Consider the fate of the Bettmann archive, which began as a collection of images recorded on film smuggled out of Nazi Germany by Otto Bettmann and grew into a collection of 17 million historic photographs, now in the possession of Bill Gates. When Mr. Gates bought the archive, the plan was to digitize all its images. But the time it will take to digitize those pictures has proved to be longer than many of the pictures themselves will last, unless they are properly stored. As a result, the archive is destined for archival refrigeration 220 feet below ground in a limestone mine not far from Pittsburgh.