The internet was supposed to preserve knowledge. Instead, it’s disappearing.

The internet was supposed to preserve knowledge. Instead, it’s disappearing.

We are living in a golden age of information. Everything we could ever want is instantly accessible, available, digitized and streaming. If want it, you only need to search for it. We’ve created a virtual library of Alexandria, except this one cannot be burned down. And it will live on forever.

Right? Right…? Well not exactly.

There’s a common misconception that the digitization of information, movies, and everything else, is a permanent state. The reality is far more different. And in fact, we may be creating a black hole at the centre of our history as technology continues to evolve.

But let’s back up for a second. The internet’s structure itself lends itself to disappearing. Rather than a centralized system managed by one entity, the internet is an interoperable design where anyone can hook up to it. Putting aside the arguments in favour or against the free internet, the lack of central structure means changes, as systems upgrade, make it susceptible to pages disappearing.  

A study done in 2014 looked at the number of links on scholarly papers focused on Supreme Court opinions since 1996. Approximately 75 per cent of those links no longer worked. Another study done looking at external links that the New York Times linked to from 1996. They found 25 per cent no longer worked. The older the link, the more likely it is to be gone. 

Moving beyond just individual websites, the number is shocking. If you accessed a webpage in 2013 and before, there’s a 38 per cent chance that it no longer exists. That number drops to 25 per cent between 2013 to 2023. 

Now think about how you use the internet today. Conversations on Facebook. Photos on iCloud. Texts on iMessage. All based on the internet, with access dictated by outside organizations. One they disappear, all of it could be lost.

The library of Alexandria isn’t burning; it’s slowly disappearing. Even activities we take for granted are susceptible to this.

Though popular movies are universally accessible through streaming, you don’t actually own them. If the streamer decides to drop Casablanca from their library, your monthly payment won't save it. The same goes for purchasing digital versions of movies, where their terms of use mean that the company can remove it at any time. You don’t actually own it, and never did.

All of this was brought into focus during the last month. My grandmother died, and she left behind albums of photos. Pictures of her with her grandkids, gardening, and hosting Christmas parties. In an age where everything is stored online for a monthly fee, there’s a chance this could’ve all been lost. 

Now this isn’t to say that physically owning something is better. Thinking back to my grandma’s photos, someone would need to store them, maintain them and ensure they’re passed down each generation. At some point, they’re probably consigned to history.

But for critical public information to understand how our world worked, the destruction of webpages, the places where information is mostly stored, could leave us with a blackhole of understanding how previous generations lived.

In recent years, I’ve started doing something unfathomable to my younger self — I’ve started collecting physical DVDs. Each time I mention this to friends or family, I can feel the waves of their incredulity wash over me. “That’s nice” really means “what are you doing.”

The joy of collecting physical movies was my small way of preserving something, unshackling myself from the screaming companies’ bottom line. But in a bigger way, it’s a small response to an online world that I cannot know will exist forever. By owning something physical, it will always be accessible. Casablanca may no longer be on Netflix, but I’ll still be able to watch it.

I’m not saying each of you should be as ridiculous like me and go out and by physical movies. But in an age where the internet is slowly disappearing, where photo and video memories are based on a monthly subscription, there is value to investing in something physical that isn’t just online, to preserve it for you and your family.

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TIPS & TRICKS

How to preserve what matters most

You may think all those photos and videos stored on the cloud are safe. But stop paying Google and see what happens…

The digital memories we make can be ephemeral if we’re not careful. While backing them up onto a computer is a good idea, remember, you could spill coffee all over it (trust me, this has happened more than once).

To prevent something like this from happening, it’s worth investing in multiple system redundancies.

For your photos and videos, the easiest solution is to purchase a separate hard drive independent from your computer. Every so often, download all your photos from iCloud or whatever other photo service you use, and transfer them to the hard drive.

Not only are you creating a backup system, but if something were to happen to you, your family will have easy access to all your memories, without needing that iCloud password.

RESOURCE & RECOMMENDATIONS

• You know how I said you should store them on a backup hardrive? For most people, that’s enough. But sometimes you may want to store them on an optical disk, just to be safe.

• If you have access to the New Yorker, this is an excellent story on human recommendations as a counter to the algorithm.

• Remember how AIs were being trained on the data we produce? Turns out there may not be enough.

• One expert argued 10 year ago argued we need a Plan B for the internet, in case it shuts down.