The state of the art has advanced in digital printing: Epson now makes an ink set that will last for around 150 years if printed on the proper paper. I think the resolutions on the prints is now up to something like 5660x2880 dots per square inch or thereabouts. (invisible to the naked eye unless you're about sixteen) These are eight color printers that use lighter shades of cyan magenta and black (so its gray) which makes for a very good print, as the older - four color - printers could only make pastels by dropping the resolution and mixing white (the paper color) . The news is even better for black and white photographers: ink sets are available that will actually use four to eight different shades of gray to make B&W photos with no grain at all. (Google Jon Cone, if you're interested.) You need to buy special drivers, but the prints will last longer than Cibachromes. It is the digital camera that is the problem: film, negative and prints (which are also made up of little dots, just like the pixels on a computer screen or the drops from an inkjet printer) have a huge resolution compared to the average photo enthusiasts camera. The pros use much more expensive - higher rez stuff. As to the idea that digital photography is somehow inauthentic, (a 'simulation', I think the term was) the same was said about photography when it was invented. Also, it was considered inauthentic for a person to use those new-fangled, store boughten, pre-mixed paints when *they* first came out. REAL artists were supposed to mix their own paints - like Leonardo. Painting on canvas - instead of a decent wall - was considered a cheat. So the only REAL art is painted in caves with charcoal and mud. All the rest is just new-fangled tomfoolery. Media drift and storage are the other problems: the formats are changing so rapidly (can you say eight track? Betamax?) that the technology becomes literally unfixable - which is why really important stuff is still on microfilm: you can cobble together *something* to look at microfilm. The typical CD is good (read: 'dependable for archival purposes') for about six years; archival CDs will last somewhat longer. But you can depend on a properly prepared and printed digital print lasting longer than most other photographic processes printing on paper. John Moriarty ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).