So, I think the next time someone starts rattling a tin cup labeled, "For Want of a CD-ROM Drive, All Digital Media Is Unreachable" at me, looking for a grant, I'll pull out this story of a guy who managed to reconstruct the sounds created by a technique never meant to be played back in the first place. Created in the 1860s, no less. "Yes yes, " I can hear them sneer, "but that's analog! We're panicking over digital media!"

Fear not, my 21st century chicken little. As long as the media survives, there will always be the ability to read it.