8 ways to store data that fiction imagined

We can remind you of these fantastic ways, but today we prefer to use more familiar methods.

Data storage is probably one of the least interesting parts of computing technology, but it is absolutely essential. After all, those who do not remember the past are doomed to recount it.

However, data storage is one of the foundations of science and science fiction, and forms the basis of a multitude of literary works. The process in which we look back in an attempt to predict the future carries an educational, well, or at least entertainment component, so let's recall eight old ideas for future data storage, some of which passed the test of time, while others lost all their bits.
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Wet storage

Why write a huge amount of data on the device, if you can shove it in someone's head?

In this storage scheme, information is recorded in the head of unsuspecting - and therefore not consented to - people, as was the case with Captain Picard in the episode of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode called Inner Light and Chuck Bartowski of series "Chuck", which came to mind "Intersect".

It is also worth remembering the 9-year-old protagonist of the 1968-69 British puppet series “Joe 90”, in whose brain they pumped skills and information using a device invented by his father (created without ethical supervision). Joe is on the list of people who did not agree with the operation, because 9-year-olds do not have such an opportunity. Father Joe should go to jail and / or hell.

In addition, it happens that the data are pumped to people in the head with their full consent, as is the case with Neo from the Matrix or dolls from the Doll's House . And there was Dr. Morbius from the Forbidden Planet . Would you like to call monsters from the subconscious? Because this is done through the use of people as carriers of information.

And only Johnny Mnemonic has a physical information storage system in his head, since in the world of William Gibson a person looks like a more reliable and safe means of transporting it than a simple computer. Perhaps - but I would not like to be in his place during the check-in at the airport.

Why 21st Century Storage is Better

The brain consists of soft pieces. And soft pieces are an imperfect repository of information, allowing emotions to change incoming or outgoing information. Also, you can not back up people - at least for now.

A computer (locally or in the cloud) stores data on silicon chips. And although they cannot be called infallible, the ease and transparency of copying ensures that you do not have a vulnerability to the server, which may suddenly decide that today it does not want to talk to you, or put on a trench and wonder about the reality of spoons.

Brute force memory

The memory abilities of the human brain are amazing. His abilities to draw conclusions and reason are sharpened to extract results from stored information. Also, the human brain makes excellent conclusions based on incomplete information; after all, this is, after all, a neural network that suffers, it is true, from a hangover and calls for work, to take time off after several controversial life decisions were made at night.

In 1984, Winston Smith memorized passages from books. In Fahrenheit 451, a network of people memorized books entirely. And, unlike the characters from the previous section, none of them absorbed knowledge in a magical way. They had to use the power of the brain. Yes, this is another form of “wet storage”, only using the original API for data transfer, with all its flaws (inefficiency and error susceptibility) and advantages (not prohibited by ethics committees).

The catch: at first I decided that the Mentats from Dune, with their abilities to memorize and conduct calculations, would fit this category. But their mantra revealed everything: “I will only set my mind in motion by will. Because of the sapho juice, thoughts gain speed, lips acquire a different color, color becomes a warning. I will only set my mind in motion by the will. ” That is, they remember with the help of safo juice, and the author of the script and director David Lynch lied to us.

These NF knowledge stores do not look into the future to memorize books. They study information in the same way that modern champions in memorization do , using technology called " halls of reason ".

Why 21st Century Storage is Better

The human brain is capable of storing petabyte data. Cloud storage providers will give you as many petabytes as you ask for - just pay. As Philip Dick predicted, they can remember everything for you in bulk.

Computers out of the cloud

HAL 9000, the server room from the San Junipero episode of the Black Mirror series, R2-D2, and the planet-imperial Scariff archive from Rogue One movie — they all served as local storage media for the Death Star plans. Storing data on a home computer or own backup device is a long-standing tradition that has existed since the advent of personal computers. Just ignore this cold fear of what will happen if your systems fail, or you will be cut off from the world as a result of an accident, malicious intent or an AI suddenly realizing itself.

With all these NF computers and droids that serve as repositories of facts, personalities and songs like Bicycle Built for Two, you need physical access to the devices to get the information you need.

At the very least, we hope that this is the case with the San Junipero servers, where personalities are stored. I don’t even want to imagine what would happen to them if some malicious hacker decided to introduce the relatively innocent 1987 to the modern world.

Why 21st Century Storage is Better

Physical security is outdated in the past decade. Yes, in some cases isolated or even “disconnected from all networks” offline storage is great, and yes, there are local cloud services. But, for the most part, you do not need to worry about the physical access to your company's knowledge base.

Cloud storage is the opposite of all basic meanings; Your data is physically scattered across multiple servers and even data centers. The connection you need is just to access them. Storing sensitive data in the cloud is no problem as long as you encrypt it, and private keys remain private. Add API keys to control data access, and you don’t have to worry that anyone will be able to release your secret plans on the air so that they hit the rebel’s flagship passing by.

And even better, you don’t have to worry about R2-D2 tricking you into removing its bounding rod.

Printed word

The classic Leibowitz Passion and the corresponding episode of Star Trek: Voyager entitled “The Unforgettable” have an unusual common aspect: the preferred method of data storage. In both cases, the characters store the data in the old manner: in writing. In Voyager, Chakotay wrote down memories of his beloved before he began to forget her; in “Leibovitz Passion”, Leibowitz wrote down a shopping list, which became a sacred text.

And although writing is an excellent method of communication, the printed word began political and religious revolutions only after books printed in large quantities began to fall into the hands of the public. But the favorite book has very real flaws. For example, old volumes are subject to destruction and may cause allergies. Books easily damage water, fire and cats .

Why 21st Century Storage is Better

Books are wonderful, but you can carry only a limited amount of them with you until you have an intervertebral hernia. You can store text from all 56 terabytes of books in the cloud, and you don’t even have to think about whether insurance will cover laparoscopy. Thanks, cloud storage!

Crystals

The idea of ​​the possibility of storing data in a periodic grid, where data can be stored in the form of prisms, is very attractive, even if it is pure NF. Golokrony and datacrony in "Star Wars." Information crystals in "Babylon 5". Crystals of the memory of Asgard from Stargate. Superman's memory crystals, which hold most of the Kryptonian knowledge, plus problems with daddy.

However, crystal calculations may soon go beyond the boundaries of the NF genre. Australian researchers encode information in nanocrystals using lasers. These laboratory nanocrystals also use energy efficiently and can store petabytes of data in a small cube.

More science fiction and you can not think of anything. But at the same time everything is real.

Why 21st Century Storage is Better

A common property of crystalline media is how beautifully they fly when dropped. From the point of view of the development of the plot, if a crystal appears in it, then its fragility will certainly be one of the factors behind the development of the plot. Let it be the technology of the future, but it obeys the laws of Murphy just like any other. So this is not an alternative to cloud storage, but an improved cloud full of crystals. From your point of view, the better and faster the repository works, the better, and you don’t care about the details of its implementation, unless one drops it.

Nanocrystal technology has yet to go beyond the laboratories. And then nanocrystals can replace silicon as the basis of cloud storage. It worked with the Kryptonians.

Real storage systems

Although the plot of “ Lost in Space ” was developed in 1997, punch cards were used in the show, the same used by programmers when it was filmed in 1965-68. The film in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is the same as that played in our cassette decks in 1985. The server room in “Outcast-one” is not much different from the modern ones, even if they look terrible in terms of design.

All these methods worked perfectly in their own time and in their places. But with the spread of cloud storage in the early 2010s, there is no reason not to keep old mail from your ex in a place where you can find it after the third glass of white.

Why 21st Century Storage is Better

Maybe not. Storage defined by software is the newest stage in the development of this area, although, like the cloud itself, it does not change storage technology — only how existing media are used. In the XXII century, we will write articles about what storage, defined by software, is inferior to crystals of Kryptonians.

Old fashioned storage

The coolest method of storing data in the NF appeared in the animated series The Batman 2004-2008. In the episode "Artifacts", Mr. Freese plans to wake up from cryogenic sleep 1000 years later. Batman knows that he will have to defend Gotham, even though he will be dead. Therefore, Batman scratched the recipe for antifreeze on the wall, and since he knew that in the future computers would not be able to read his code, he wrote the entire formula in binary code.

It is not just clever, it is extremely clever.

Why 21st Century Storage is Better

There is nothing better than Batman.

Accidental storage

Not all data storage methods are limited to computers. "The Wire", an episode of the series "Beyond the Bottom of Possible", titled "The Demon with the Glass Hand". The sonic screwdriver of the Doctor in "The Silence of the Library" and "The Forest of the Dead." A grain of sand in the episode "The Story of All Your Life" on the series "The Black Mirror".

And good. Science fiction is often the herald of technology. If we didn’t have predictors of how awesome future inventions would be, we wouldn’t have submarines, cell phones, or QuickTime.

Why 21st Century Storage is Better

Unique storage systems designed with a specific, single purpose - it's cool and interesting, but inconsistent. The storage system should not be special, it should be boring. What matters is what you do with it. This is exactly what cloud storage does: it provides uninterrupted access to data when you and your users need it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "Foolish consistency is a superstition of minded minds." However, reliability is what empires, utopias and great federations consist of.