IBM Patents Idea of Making Your Data Crappier Over Time

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It's so they can then create a version of document DRM. After forcing the degradation system on our files we have to pay them for the key to remove the degrading process. They will sell it to congress or whoever as a means of "naturally" deleting old files no one wants anymore. The next TV big head meme will be the danger of old files sitting around in your computer and why you should want IBM's technology to get rid of it for you. You will be branded as unamerican if you don't agree. Then IBM will roll out the fix and make a fortune.
 
I think that the purpose of this is to relive the movie rental market. Other uses could be all kind of documents that simply expire: you could get an "expired" seal on it automatically.
 
Ermm guys. They're doing this so that they can force you to buy new hardware at a dramatically increased price that is only marginally better than the hardware of yesterday.
 
Well, this could be good for the music pirates out there. If digital files will in fact degrade over time, then the music industries main arguments for enforcing music copyrights so forcefully just disappears.
 
[citation][nom]Sailor Moon[/nom]Ermm guys. They're doing this so that they can force you to buy new hardware at a dramatically increased price that is only marginally better than the hardware of yesterday.[/citation]

Sounds like the Apple Inc - business model....
 
Surely this will be used to develop more rugged/versatile formats that have error correction algorithms that will reconstruct the original data from fragments.

It will be used to benchmark the format to see what will work in REAL life. I think that is the useful function of the patent. If your data can be reconsituted after 50-100 years of aging then you pretty much have created an "indestructible" format.

There would be a HUGE market for that. Especially in archiving.

Short of creating a format and waiting those 50 years and then checking this makes developing MCUH faster. I am suprised that everyone is jumping on the "useless" bandwagon.
 
This could be a cool way to give users a quick visual cue on how old (or new) our files are.

I kind of like the idea, just as long as there is a "restore to new" button to revert it back to normal. It would be cool to see this integrated into Windows OS. I see it more as a feature that could be turned on or off.
 
This file system "preserves" NOTHING at all! If you wanted to keep the files' quality at its' best, then just leave it alone, or convert it to the NEXT version of that file WITHOUT quality loss!!! Hopefully no linux or Windows developers agree to this B!@#$%^&!!!
 
I'm going to guess that the patent really is just for a system that recognizes when a file hasn't been accessed in a long time and reduces the quality of it via compression. This will allow giant databases of data to slowly shrink their unused data to reclaim disk space.

It does kind of make sense, but only for limited file types and only to a certain point. If a system has thousands of 10MB+ images that aren't accessed for years it makes sense to reduce their quality to say 500KB over time. It could even shrink files by converting them to simpler / smaller encodings with minimal loss of data (e.g. unicode -> ascii). Same goes for video / audio compression.

I'm not sure that a process like this is really necessary and it seems like something that could be written pretty easily into database management software. Sounds like it unless it was highly customized for the particular system that it would cause more harm than its worth.
 
If the problem relates to old, unviewed files on servers taking up space, then reducing the quality of the file isn't the answer. A better way to deal with older file size is compress and archive the files. Who the hell wants to lose quality in their personal data of their own computers? IBM, this is just stupid, you morons.
 
This will be integrated in whatever new filesystem will be used by MS/Apple in the future, as so to create the perfect DRM platform. A TPM locked pc, Big Brother internet and a degenerative file system for those files, like photographs, that they can't possibly police and anything you will buy digitally will degrade over time. Prepare to never own your digital future. And buying it multiple times.
 
[citation][nom]intel4eva[/nom]Since Toms got bought by Bestofmedia, there has been a RIDICULOUS amount of sensationalizing in the news feed. Not too mention Toms is always 1-3 days late on reporting shit.Here's the thing. Of the organizations that have a decent document management system in place, few have (in practice) a good functioning system of planned data destruction. Very few organizations follow through with a well thought out plan to purge their systems of old, irrelevant data. Since this article is lacking in detail, I think it's only reasonable to assume IBM's patent is not intended for a degradation of files per se, but rather an automatic and probably customizable system for data disposal.Well done Bestofmedia. You exaggerate and even lie in almost every news post, and the forum explodes. Such effective trolling. This page's 14 elements detected by Ghostery are hard at work to 'monetize' those eyeballs.[/citation]
Why not just simply set a time limit for the age of the file rather than degrade it over time? The simple fact that the data becomes less and less readable over time certainly makes it less useful over time. To me, it seems far simpler to keep the data intact, then simply delete it when its age limit is reached. Sorry, but on this one, I agree with Tom's.
 
Imagine a closed system where upgrading memory storage is either impossible or difficult, but the system must learn over time to dynamic changes in its environment, and only the most important or salient information must be remembered...does this ring a bell? Such a system reminds me of the human mind, which also tends to degrade memory traces over time unless they are important or retreived often enough. If you were to design a system (e.g., robot) which had limited storage space, such an ability would be critical to its long-term operation. Learn core principles and maintain critical information with the upmost degree of clarity, while maintaining the ability to store salient information for some period of time (albiet limited). Maby this idea isnt so crazy after all?
 
hitachi makes 1tb hdd platters and ibm thinks that shrinking a file down is a worthwhile effort.
 
[citation][nom]Wylde[/nom]I can tell by the comments that nobody understands what this does. For example if you have a .doc that has not been accessed in say 12 months it gets shipped to the aging server which then transforms it to lets say a .pdf which makes it a smaller file, but the editing ability is removed, etc. This is not to degrade your data, but to allow you to keep more of it for an extended amount of time.[/citation]


That doesn't make it any less stupid. It's not like my hard drive is shrinking over time. If I run out of space, I'll go buy another drive. I don't need some file system tinkering with my files in the background.
 
Ignore the news post. Head straight to the patent application. If you read it through, you'll see that Wolfgang missed the mark. This is applies mostly to simulating the effect on photos. It doesn't wholesale delete or degrade data. In fact..., the technology allows you to set a grade period before the degrade mechanism kicks in, so its more like automatic file deletion of say 10 year old files. Think about setting the bar to degrade tax records at 7 years (by law the IRS can only audit tax records up to 7 years).

Second, IBM actually describes a storage hierarchy where the aged files and original files are stored separately. On the aging server, the file gets deleted and replaced to show the aging effect. There's no need to store a simulated 1 year and 5 year old photo at age 5.

Third, should this be implemented, If you're on a client system downloading an aged picture, the aging process is frozen on the copy of the picture you download. It doesn't keep aging on your personal system, only on the server.

Cheers,
Andrew K.
TomsHardware.com
 
[citation][nom]Wylde[/nom]I can tell by the comments that nobody understands what this does. For example if you have a .doc that has not been accessed in say 12 months it gets shipped to the aging server which then transforms it to lets say a .pdf which makes it a smaller file, but the editing ability is removed, etc. This is not to degrade your data, but to allow you to keep more of it for an extended amount of time.[/citation]
Except that word documents are already pretty tiny files compared to pictures, databases, etc...
 
""Moreover, in other applications, for record retention purposes, it is necessary for institutions to save files for a certain period of time, but after the designated time period has elapsed, there is no more need to maintain the files. Typically, in such situations, the files are accessed one-by-one and deleted from a file system since they are unnecessarily taking up valuable storage space. Thus, there is a need for a new kind of filing system that automatically and selectively ages files contained therein such that the files themselves are caused to age with time and are not maintained in their originally stored state. Moreover, there is a need to provide such an aging function to apply automatically to all files stored on the filing system without requiring a continuing user monitoring effort."
 
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