Leaving an SSD in a drawer and not powering it up for over a year can leave your files vulnerable (Image credit: Future)

Recently, I’ve written for Creative Bloq's sister site Digital Camera World about a run of photographic rediscoveries. For instance, F Holland Day’s 1898 series The Seven Words resurfaced in September. Then in October, we saw a newly found cache of photos that document the making of the 1926 horror film Faust. These antiquated forms of physical media sat untouched for a century or more, and yet remain totally viewable. Amazing, really.

Now, let's do a thought experiment. If you're old enough, picture the digital work you made 20 years ago. That might be a website design, assets for a CD-ROM, a vector illustration… whatever.

Ask yourself: could you locate and open those files today? If you’re anything like me, the honest answer is “mostly no”.

It's ironic, really. Because digital work has no tangible physical presence, we tend to think of it as eternal.…