We can remind you of these fantastic ways, but today we prefer to use more familiar methods.
Data storage is probably one of the least interesting parts of computing, but absolutely necessary. After all, those who , doomed to his recalculation.
However, data storage is one of the foundations of science and science fiction, and forms the basis of many literary works. The process of looking back in an attempt to predict the future is educational, or at least entertaining, so let's revisit eight old ideas for the future of data storage, some of which have stood the test of time, while others have lost all their bits.
Wet storage
Why write a huge amount of data to a device when you can shove it into someone's head?
In this storage scheme, information is written into the head of unsuspecting - and therefore unconsenting - people, as was the case with Captain Picard in the episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called "Inner Light" and with Chuck Bartowski from TV series "Chuck", which came up with "Intersect".
It is also worth remembering the 9-year-old protagonist of the 1968-69 British puppet series Joe 90, who had skills and information uploaded into his brain using a device invented by his father (created without ethical oversight). Joe is on the list of people who did not agree with the operation, since 9-year-old people do not have such an opportunity. Joe's father should go to jail and/or hell.
In addition, it happens that data is pumped into people's heads with their full consent, as in the case of Neo from The Matrix or puppets from "". And there was Dr. Morbius from "". Want to call monsters from the subconscious? Because this is done through the use of people as information carriers.
And only Johnny Mnemonic has a physical information storage system built into his head, since in the world of William Gibson a person looks like a more reliable and safe means of transporting information than a simple computer. Perhaps - but I would not want to be in his place during the check at the airport.
Why XNUMXst century storage is better
The brain is made up of soft pieces. And the soft bits are an imperfect repository of information that allows emotions to change the information that comes in or goes out. You can't back up people either - at least not yet.
A computer (locally or in the cloud) stores data on silicon chips. And while they are not infallible, the ease and transparency of copying ensures that you are not vulnerable to a server that may suddenly decide that it does not want to talk to you today, or put on a trench coat and wonder about the reality of spoons.
Memory with brute force
The memory capacity of the human brain is amazing. His ability to draw conclusions and reason is sharpened to extract results from stored information. The human brain is also great at making inferences based on incomplete information; because it is, after all, a neural network, suffering, however, from a hangover and calling to work to take time off after several controversial life decisions were made at night.
In 1984, Winston Smith memorized passages from books. In Fahrenheit 451, a network of people memorized entire books. And, unlike the characters in the previous section, none of them magically absorbed knowledge. They had to use the power of the brain. Yes, it's just another form of "wet storage" just using the original data transfer API, with all its downsides (inefficiency and error proneness) and upsides (not banned by ethics committees).
The catch: At first, I thought that the Mentats from Dune, with their ability to remember and calculate, would fit into this category. But their mantra revealed everything: “With my will alone, I will set my mind in motion. Because of Sappho's juice, thoughts gain speed, lips acquire a different color, color becomes a warning. With my will alone, I will set my mind in motion." That is, they remember with the help of Sappho juice, and the scriptwriter and director David Lynch lied to us.
These SF repositories do not look into the future to memorize books. They study information in the same way as modern , using a technology called "".
Why XNUMXst century storage is better
The human brain is capable data. Cloud storage providers will give you as many petabytes as you ask for - just pay. As Philip Dick predicted, they can remember everything for you in bulk.
Computers outside the cloud
HAL 9000, the server room from the Black Mirror episode "San Junipero", R2-D2, and the Imperial Archive planet Scariff from Rogue One all served as local storage facilities for the Death Star's data and plans. Storing data on your home computer or your own backup device has been a long tradition since the advent of personal computers. Just ignore this cold fear of what will happen if your systems fail, or you are cut off from the world by accident, malice, or suddenly self-aware AI.
With all these SF computers and droids serving as repositories of facts, personalities, and songs like Bicycle Built for Two, you need physical access to the devices to get the information you need.
At least that's what we hope is the case with the San Junipero servers where identities are stored. I don’t even want to imagine what would have happened to them if some malicious hacker had decided to introduce the relatively innocent 1987 to the modern world.
Why XNUMXst century storage is better
Physical security has become obsolete in the last decade. Yes, isolated or even “offline” offline storage is great in some cases, and yes, there are on-premises cloud services. But, for the most part, you don't have to worry about physically accessing your company's knowledge base.
Cloud storage is the opposite in every major sense; your data is physically scattered across multiple servers and even data centers. Communication you need, only to access them. Storing sensitive data in the cloud is not a problem as long as you encrypt it and the private keys remain private. Add API keys to control access to your data, and you won't have to worry about someone getting your secret plans on the air so that they get on a passing rebel flagship.
And even better, you won't have to worry about R2-D2 tricking you into removing his restraining rod.
printed word
classic story"" and the corresponding Star Trek: Voyager episode titled "Unforgettable" have an unusual common aspect: the preferred method of storing data. In both cases, the characters store data in the old fashioned way: in writing. In Voyager, Chakotay recorded memories of a loved one before how he began to forget it; in The Passion for Leibovitz, Leibovitz wrote down a shopping list that became a sacred text.
While writing is an excellent method of communication, the printed word only after books printed in large quantities began to fall into the hands of the public. But the beloved book has some very real flaws. For example, old volumes are prone to destruction and can cause allergies. Books are easily damaged by water, fire and .
Why XNUMXst century storage is better
Books are wonderful, but there are only a limited number of books you can carry with you until you get a herniated disc. You can store text from in the cloud, and you don't even have to think about whether insurance will cover laparoscopy. Thank you cloud storage!
Crystals
The idea of being able to store data in a periodic lattice, where data can be stored in the form of prisms, is very attractive, even if it is pure NF. Holocrons and datacrons in Star Wars. Information crystals in Babylon 5. Asgardian memory crystals from Stargate. Superman's memory crystals, storing most of the Kryptonian knowledge, plus daddy issues.
However, crystal computing may soon go beyond the sci-fi genre. Researchers from Australia information in nanocrystals using lasers. These laboratory nanocrystals are also energy efficient and can store a petabyte of data in a small cube.
Nothing could be more sci-fi. But at the same time, it's all real.
Why XNUMXst century storage is better
A common property of crystalline storage media is how beautifully they scatter when dropped. In terms of story development, if a crystal appears in it, then its fragility will most likely be one of the factors in the development of the story. Let it be the technology of the future, but it obeys Murphy's laws just like any other. So this is not an alternative to cloud storage, but an improved cloud full of crystals. From your point of view, the better and faster the storage is, the better, and you don't care about the details of its implementation, unless someone drops it.
Nanocrystal technology has yet to go beyond laboratories. And then nanocrystals could replace silicon as the basis for cloud storage. It worked for the Kryptonians.
Real storage systems
Although the plotdeveloped in 1997, the show used punched cards, the same ones used by programmers when it was filmed in 1965-68. The server room in Rogue One is not much different from modern ones, even if they look terrible in terms of design.
All these methods worked perfectly in their time and place. But with the rise of cloud storage in the early 2010s, there's no reason not to store old mail from your ex in a place where you can find it after your third glass of white.
Why XNUMXst century storage is better
Maybe not. Software-defined storage is the most recent development in the field, although like the cloud itself, it doesn't change storage technology, just how existing media is used. In the XNUMXnd century, we will be writing articles about how storage, defined by software, is inferior to Kryptonian crystals.
Old fashioned storage
The coolest method of storing data in sf appeared in the 2004-2008 animated series The Batman. In the episode "Artifacts", Mr. Freeze plans to wake up from cryogenic sleep in 1000 years. Batman knows that he will have to protect Gotham, even though he will be dead. So Batman scratched the antifreeze recipe on the wall, and because he knew that in the future computers wouldn't be able to read his code, he wrote the whole formula in binary.
It's not just smart, it's extremely smart.
Why XNUMXst century storage is better
There is nothing better than Batman.
Random storage
Not all data storage methods are limited to computers. "The Wire", an episode of Beyond the Limits titled "The Demon with the Glass Hand". The Doctor's sonic screwdriver in Library Silence and Forest of the Dead. A grain of sand in the Black Mirror episode "The Story of Your Life".
And good. Science fiction is often the herald of technology. If we didn't have predictors of how cool future inventions would be, we wouldn't have submarines, cell phones, or QuickTime.
Why XNUMXst century storage is better
Unique storage systems designed for a specific, single purpose are cool and interesting, but inconsistent. Storage doesn't have to be fancy, it has to be boring. What you do with it matters. That's exactly what cloud storage does: provide continuous access to data when you and your users need it.
said: "Stupid consistency is the superstition of narrow-minded minds." However, reliability is what empires, utopias and great federations are made of.
Source: habr.com