8 ways to store data that science 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, but it is absolutely necessary. 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 many literary works. The process in which we look back in an attempt to predict the future carries an educational, well, or at least entertaining component, so let's recall eight old ideas for future data storage, some of which have passed the test of time, while others have lost all their bits.

Wet storage

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

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

It is also worth remembering the 9-year-old protagonist of the British puppet series 1968-69 “Joe 90”, into the brain of which they pumped skills and information using a device invented by his father (created without ethical supervision). Joe is on the list of people who disagreed with the operation, since 9-year-olds do not have this opportunity. Joe's father must go to jail and / or to hell.

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

And only Johnny Mnemonics has a physical information storage system built into 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 want to be in his place during the check-in at the airport.

Why 21st Century Storage is Better

The brain is made up of soft pieces. And soft pieces are an imperfect repository of information that allows emotions to change incoming or outgoing information. You also cannot back up people - at least not yet.

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 have no vulnerability to the server, which can suddenly decide that today it does not want to talk to you, or put on a trench coat and ask about the reality of spoons.

Brute Force Memory

The ability of the human brain to remember is amazing. His ability to draw conclusions and reason is focused on extracting results from stored information. Also, the human brain perfectly draws conclusions based on incomplete information; after all, it is, after all, a neural network that suffers, however, from a hangover and calls to work in order to take leave after several controversial life decisions were made at night.

In 1984, Winston Smith memorized passages from books. At Fahrenheit 451, a network of people remembered the whole book. And, unlike the characters from the previous section, none of them absorbed knowledge magically. 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 disadvantages (inefficiency and error prone) and advantages (not prohibited by ethics committees).

The catch: at first I decided that the mentors from Dune, with their ability to memorize and carry out calculations, would fit into this category. But their mantra revealed everything: “By my will alone I will set my mind in motion. Because of Sappho juice, thoughts gain speed, lips acquire a different color, color becomes a warning. By will alone, I will set my mind in motion. ” That is, they remember with the help of Sappho juice, and the scriptwriter and director David Lynch lied to us.

These NF knowledge stores do not look to the future to memorize books. They study information the way modern champions of memorization do , using a technology called the " halls of the mind ."

Why 21st Century Storage is Better

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

Computers outside the cloud

HAL 9000, the server room from the San Junipero episode of the Black Mirror series, R2-D2, and Scariff's planetary-imperial archive from the movie Rogue One — all served as local storage for the Death Star data and plans. Storing data on a home computer or your own backup device is a long 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 are cut off from the world as a result of an accident, malice, or suddenly self-aware AI.

With all of these NF computers and droids serving 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 least we hope that this is the case with the servers of San Junipero, where the 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 1987th to the modern world.

Why 21st Century Storage is Better

Physical security has become obsolete in the last 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 don’t need to worry about physical access to your company's knowledge base.

Cloud storage is the opposite of this in every sense; Your data is physically scattered across multiple servers and even data centers. You need a connection, only to access them. Storing sensitive data in the cloud is not a problem as long as you encrypt it, and the private keys remain private. Add API keys to control access to your data, and you won’t have to worry that someone will be able to release your secret plans on air so that they get on the rebel 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 story “ Passion for Leibovitz ” and the corresponding episode of the series “Star Trek: Voyager” called “Unforgettable” have an unusual general aspect: the preferred method of data storage. In both cases, the characters store data in the old fashioned way: in writing. In Voyager, Chakotay wrote down memories of his beloved before he began to forget her; in The Passion for Leibovitz, Leibovitz wrote down a shopping list that became a sacred text.

Although writing is a great way to communicate, the printed word has begun political and religious revolutionsonly after books printed in large quantities began to fall into the hands of the public. But your favorite book has very real flaws. For example, old volumes are subject to destruction and can cause allergies. Books easily damage water, fire, and cats .

Why 21st Century Storage is Better

Books are a wonderful thing, but only a limited number of them you can carry 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 the insurance will cover laparoscopy. Thank you, 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 a pure NF. Holocrons and datacrons in Star Wars. Information crystals in Babylon 5. Crystals in memory of Asgard from "Stargate". Superman's memory crystals that hold most of the knowledge of Kryptonians, plus problems with daddy.

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

You can't think of anything more sci-fi. But at the same time, everything is real.

Why 21st Century Storage is Better

A common property of crystalline storage media is how beautifully they fly apart 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 in the development of the plot. Although this is the technology of the future, it obeys Murphy's laws 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 storage works, the better, and the details of its implementation do not bother you, if only nobody drops it.

Nanocrystal technology has yet to go beyond laboratories. And then nanocrystals will be able to replace silicon as the basis of cloud storage. With the Kryptonians, it worked.

Real storage systems

Although the plot of " Lost in Space " developed in 1997, punch cards were used in the show, the same as those used by programmers when they shot it in 1965-68. The film in Margaret Atwood’s book “The Handmaid's Tale” is the same as it was in our cassette decks in 1985. The server room at Rogue One isn’t very different from the modern ones, albeit terribly looking in terms of design.

All these methods worked perfectly in due time and in their places. But with the proliferation of cloud storage in the early 2010s, there is no reason not to store 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 why storage, defined by software, is inferior to Kryptonian crystals.

Old fashioned storage

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

It is not just smart, it is extremely smart.

Why 21st Century Storage is Better

There is nothing better than Batman.

Random storage

Not all storage methods are limited to computers. Listening, episode of the series Beyond the Possible, titled Demon with a Glass Hand. Doctor’s sound screwdriver in Silence of the Library and Forest of the Dead. A grain of sand in the episode "The Story of Your Life" of the series "Black Mirror".

And good. Science fiction often acts as a technology herald. If we did not have predictors representing how cool future inventions would be, we would not have submarines, cell phones or QuickTime.

Why 21st Century Storage is Better

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

Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "Stupid consistency is the superstition of narrow-minded minds." Reliability, however, is what empires, utopias, and great federations are made of.