A crisis in digital preservation now afflicts all developed countries. Databases recorded in old computer formats can no longer be accessed on new generation machines, while magnetic storage tapes and discs have physically decayed, ruining precious databases.
Interesting idea. You'd have to make sure that the data doesn't contain anything confidential (banking details, medical records, &c), just in case someone manages to reverse-engineer the transformation.
these obsolete forms of data storage should be put to use, either by sending them to artists such as farmers manual, who transform all kinds of data into digital soundscapes. i use the same materials in differing ways, and not quite as well as FM. farmers manual can be contacted at : test@farmersmanual.co.at i can be contacted at : hired_state@excite.com if anyone has access to redundant data i'm sure FM would appreciate access to it, as would i. it would be great to recycle and put to use