For some reason, today’s xkcd strip reminded me of how our strongest and most impressive modern structures would be reduced to piles of rusted scrap and rubble within a few decades without regular maintenance, whereas pyramids, Aztec temples and Roman aqueducts will remain more or less unchanged for millennia.
![xkcd strip #1909 “Digital Resource Lifespan”: “My access to resources on [subject] over time”, showing that books and library microfilms survive indefinitely whilst websites, apps and CDs typically fail or go defunct within a few years](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkxh65hutTC_dEaCNFLAr2H6s4nVsEYJ7Uaic-a9xBKhyphenhyphenWx7HWTdD46vSnngfX2jrxn6r8YGBRxyuPl3-yZ2jD9k82yVlx7oahKCUMybZKm50Vq3Ly-ZzucoaibkI6GrZhLhp_8q3mJCTR/s1600/xkcd_1909.jpg "xkcd strip #1909 “Digital Resource Lifespan”: “My access to resources on [subject] over time”, showing that books and library microfilms survive indefinitely whilst websites, apps and CDs typically fail or go defunct within a few years")
Why is it the more sophisticated we get, the more impermanent our world becomes?
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