I was driving on the highway last weekend, and as I turned one way, my
thoughts turned to my Apple II disks. I don't know why. But I was wondering about how long my 5.25" disks will remain readable. It seems to me that if they're stored in an agreeable environment, they ought to last another generation. After all, magnetic tapes from NASA missions and The Beatles in
the 1960s can still be played back. But it probably depends on how well they were manufactured to begin with.

The oldest 5.25" disks I have are from at least the year 1980 or 1981. So on average, between 40 to 45 years old. I probably have a few late 70s disks in 13-sector format too. Late 70s disks are not too far away from 50 years old. (By the way, the FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY of the Apple II is coming in just 2 years! :-0 Yowza.)

Here's the point of this discussion: does anyone have any disks in his collection that he knows were readable, say, 10 or more years ago; but today are no longer readable? And I don't mean just completely unreadable, but
maybe with a few sector errors. And if so, how were these disks stored? Were they in a bad environment like an attic or a garage, or were they always
kept within the conditioned living spaces of a home or office?

Speculation and anecdotes are of course welcome here. :-)

--
]DF$
The New Apple II User's Guide:
https://macgui.com/newa2guide/

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