*That's an interesting set of challenges.
http://longplayer.org/what/survival/future.php
"About Longplayer's Survival
"From its initial conception, a central part of the Longplayer project has been about considering strategies for the future. How does one keep a piece of music playing across generations? How does one prepare for its technological adaptability, knowing how few technologies have remained viable over the last millenium? How does one legislate for its upkeep? And how can one communicate that responsibility to those who might be looking after it some 950 years after its original custodians have perished?
"Technological Survival and Possible Solutions
"The first question about Longplayer's survival is technological – by what methods will its music be produced, how will it be heard, and how will those technologies have to change in the face of the next thousand years of environmental challenges and unforeseeable circumstances? There are several different alternatives being pursued at the moment, among them:
"1. A dedicated global radio frequency, the original and abiding ambition for Longplayer. At present Longplayer is being streamed live on the internet (see here) – a medium which, while at present truly global and virtually instantaneous, depends on both a vast, complex, and somewhat unstable technological network for it broadcast and a high technological “overhead” for its reception. Radio, on the other hand, depends on a relatively simple and stable technology for both broadcasting and receiving, to the extent that it can even be heard on a homemade wind-up device.
"2. A mechanical device. At present, the mechanical model being pursued is based on the “record player” analogy for Longplayer. Research is ongoing into the design of a Longplayer device consisting of six two-armed turntables, each of a sufficient size to incorporate controlling mechanisms capable of raising, lowering and advancing the arms with adequate precision. This will probably mean building turntables much bigger than the conventional 12 inch – maybe 6 to 12 feet in diameter. This then begs the question as to how records of that size are to be cut, and from what material.
"3. A small computational device that is built to last for a very long time – thinking along the lines of technology used in deep space missions. This device would have one function only, and that would be to play Longplayer. ..."
