Data Preservation Research Essay

Copyright © 2015 Alex Nowak. All rights reserved. Page 1
Effects of a Catastrophic
Global Power Grid
Shutdown on Electronically
Stored Data and the Means
to Preserve Information
Alex Nowak
IS455 A - Strategic Applications of IT
May 2015

Methods of Data Preservation in Event of a Global Power Grid
Shutdown
Table of Contents
Introduction – Setting the Stage....................................................................................................................................3
When the Power Grid Fails...............................................................................................................................................4
Methods of Preserving the Data (Information) ...................................................................................................6
Wait... What about books?.................................................................................................................................................8
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................................................9
Works Cited.............................................................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction– Setting the Stage
Before the year 2000, information gathering was a lot more basic than what it is
today. In a usual scenario, Jeff is watching a documentary on television when he stumbles
upon a concept or topic that he has no idea about. He'd either go next door, down the
street, or even call the friend that he trusts knows a particular bit of knowledge of one of
those concepts, Mary. She's able to explain the idea to Jeff in a way that he can understand.
That's a pretty basic way of finding more information about something. However, along
with the 21st century, a new way of finding out info has taken effect. "This tendency to
distribute information through what we call a “transactive memory system” developed in a
world of face-to-face interactions, one in which the human mind represented the pinnacle
of information storage. Yet this world no longer exists. With the development of the
Internet, the human mind has been reduced from a powerhouse to an also-ran." (Wegner &
Ward, 2013) With technology advancing every hour, people are more and more dependent
on technology and the Internet to run their daily lives.
In the same scenario, Jeff is watching a slightly different documentary on television
about Sea turtles. He has have never seen a Sea turtle in his life, so it's only natural for him
not to understand anything in the documentary as it keeps running. Although the option of
contacting his friend who's a marine biologist is available, there is a different method of
information gathering so many other people utilize. If at all, Jeff chooses to look the topic
up using google.com, the world's most popular search engine (Krawczyk, 2014). Google
presents him with links as to what Sea turtles are, how they live, how they breath, and how
they pass on characteristics from generation to generation.
As Jeff looks up information on Sea turtles using google.com, he begins to learn quite
a bit, perhaps more than if he asked his marine biologist friend. Jeff then sees a book about
Sea turtles in the search result and decides to purchase it. This purchase however, is
popping up less and less nowadays. Paperback books are starting to become obsolete
compared to the simplicity of looking up a book online and reading it in the same online
format.
This presents an interesting curiosity – what would be the result of a global power
grid shutdown and how people would react to it if they couldn't use the Internet or
satellites? Can the world depend on books and data storage devices to process information
so that we could preserve information to the next generation? It's going to have to,
otherwise, civilization would collapse. In reality however, there will always be ways to
preserve information so that it can transcend generations.
In the event of a catastrophic collapse in the power grid, the infrastructure of the
world would suffer quite a bit from the fallout. An event like this would also be tough to
recover from since so much of the world depends on the power grid to operate and
progress. Information preservation would take a hit as well, because today, the main

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methods of storing information today are set up by using the cloud over the Internet.
Making physical backed up copies of everything would enable people to save information
in the event of a world-wide disaster. By using this method, the information stored on the
copies would be preserved for future generations to learn and maintain the knowledge.
When the Power Grid Fails
The stage is set for the big event, as it has come at last. One day, the world-wide
power grid shuts down and access to satellites and Internet are halted. A day goes by;
people are in mass panic not sure of what else to do but to return to their families. This task
would be a lot easier if not for a complicated obstacle: there is no communication. The
biggest perk that the power grid provides is the ability for humans to communicate with
one another utilizing it. Basic services such as text messaging, cell phone service, and phone
lines would become unavailable. The reason for those services becoming unavailable is
because the infrastructure behind those services is also part of the Internet. One might ask
why they can't just use walkie-talkies to talk to each other. There would be no problem in
trying to use them, they just wouldn't work efficiently because they can only be used within
limited distances. If you can't talk to your family members from a long distance, it's harder
to get to them since the travel path involved with getting to them requires some sort of
communication. Utilization of vehicles would be hindered, but not halted, as gas is still
available. Airports would be rendered practically useless from the fact that no link exists
between the planes and the airport communication towers. If airplanes were to be used
despite the catastrophe, passengers would need to put full trust in the pilot to get to their
destination on their own without communication. Radio communication would pretty
much be the only efficient method of communication and broadcasting. Ham radios would
become mainstream devices of communication because of their usefulness when distance
is an issue because they can be used anywhere. Since cell phone towers and telephone lines
were affected in the catastrophe, people all would be forced to writing letters and using the
post office to send them.
In the event of a catastrophe involving the power grid, cable and satellite services
would be unavailable. People could still get television programming if it was sent using
broadcast towers, but they'd need an antenna. Since both cable and satellites were involved
in the shut down, access to most of the channels would be lost. Social networking sites such
as Facebook or Twitter would be nothing. People would no longer be able to quickly go to
an instant messaging service to check up on friends.
As stated before, communication is huge to the infrastructure of every country. The
military-related impacts of the absence of satellites and Internet access are almost endless.
Military equipment would be manufactured a lot slower since a lot of the process includes
some form of Internet connectivity. Operations in action at the time of the of the failure
would be hard to complete or finish since there is no link to the headquarters. The men and
women of the armed forces wouldn't have the ability to communicate with each other using
regular radios. They'd have to be trained to use ham radios or take upon themselves to use

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walkie-talkies on the front lines. It would also be hard for those overseas and in war to
contact their families in other countries.
As the Internet has become so ubiquitous, countries have taken advantage of it and
used it to gather information about other countries. Without the Internet, intelligence
agencies such as the Central Intelligence Agency would practically become useless. Their
place in investigating intelligence-based matters wouldn't be that big anymore since
sharing information would become slow and difficult and thus not in many countries'
interests to pursue.
With the world absent of access to satellites and Internet, the economy of each
country would feel the hardest impact. The treasury departments for the developed
countries would have a harder time printing currency. Any automated system for printing
money will be hindered due to there being no real automatic method of accountability for
the amount of money being printed. On the topic of money, not much would be there to
spare because once the Internet itself becomes inaccessible, it will take a long time to fund
the issues from the aftermath. Credit and debit cards would become useless as there is no
Internet to transfer payment from the card out of it into the seller's account. Everyone
would have to use cash instead of those cards for payment. Not to mention, electronic
banking and online payment services such as PayPal would be gone.
Although the gaming industry isn't that crucial to countries', it's still worth
mentioning how much this industry would be hit by the failure of the power grid. A report
by Newzoo.com describing the global games market in 2013 stated that the gaming
industry was worth over $75 billion. Regardless of what anyone says, $75 billion is a big
chunk of our economy. Every country that takes part in the production of video games
would have the development of any game they were in the middle of, stopped. There would
be very little entertainment, however it wouldn't be the worst of the world's worries
during a global power grid failure.
Businesses, the driving force behind
the economy, would all be in trouble. Every
business that depended on the Internet for
operations, not just for their Website, would
go into recession. Jonathan Strickland, a
writer for howstuffworks.com explained in
an article about what would happen if the
Internet shutdown. "Think of the businesses
that depend upon the Internet. Every Web
site would be offline. Huge companies like Google or Amazon would become obsolete
instantly." (Strickland) The search engine Jeff used to find more about Sea turtles, wouldn't
be used at all and would be virtually worthless. The companies affected couldn't even hope
to have more advertisements, since the majority of advertisements are displayed through
the Internet. According to ZenithOptimedia, 24.6% of Ad space is used on the Internet
(Figure 1) (Lunden, 2013).That percentage would practically go down to 0 during the
power grid shutdown because no companies could use their advertisements online.
Figure 1. Changes in advertisingmedium.

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Unemployment during the catastrophe would rise exponentially due to so many
companies putting their faith in the Internet to operate their businesses. Thus, these
companies go out of business so their employees become out of a job. Even if the
organization didn't totally depend on the Internet for operations, there would still be some
laying off since at least some part of the company has to have an online component.
Jonathan Strickland also covered unemployment in his article of what would happen if the
Internet was gone saying, "Assuming the collapse was either of a permanent or extended
nature, many companies would go out of business. Hundreds of thousands of people would
be out of a job." (Strickland) Not all would be lost in the job market, because with a
problem that arises that causes unemployment, there's a remedy worth employing people
to help find and solve it. A percentage of those people might be hired to research alternate
methods of communicating information without the usual go-to method of the Internet. For
example, more people can learn how to operate ham-radios since those are perfect in the
event of a catastrophe such as the scenario is.
Methods of Preserving the Data (Information)
In the event of a world-wide power grid failure, specifically eliminating the use of
satellites and the Internet, there must be a way to keep the information we have now so
that future generations can use it. If we don't have a way to preserve the information,
future generations aren't going to be as knowledgeable as the previous ones. It would be
pretty embarrassing for a parent to not be able to pass on what (s)he learned in decades
prior to their children.
The oldest method of information preservation and storage in existence is writing.
Writing the information down that you want to be able to pass on later in life to the next
generation is 95% efficient compared to the rest of the methods. The reason for which is
because the information won't be obfuscated because whatever is written on paper is what
the person actually wrote. Of course forgery is always an option, but there really is no point
in doing so when it's just material that one's learned in the past. Lists consisting of
everyone they've met in their life that they can remember or even a grocery list for the
month are two examples. The remaining 5% inefficiency is based off of human error and
the possibility of the paper getting lost. The other reason for this method of information
preservation being great is that if the writing fades, you can just write over it, it's not gone
forever.
Since laptops and computers will not be wiped out in effect of the global power grid
failure, the use of CDs (Compact Discs) and DVDs (Digital Versatile Discs) is a viable option
to back up and store information. Both of them offer a simple and safe way to back up
important data. One of the positives of using either CDs or DVDs for digital storage is their
affordability. A stack of either in bulk would only cost about 40 to 50 cents each. CDs and
DVDs are easy to carry around and are fairly durable. Both mediums can withstand fire and
being dropped. Not everything about CDs and DVDs is perfect however. CDs and extremely

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susceptible to scratches to the point that a single deep scratch can make it useless. CDs and
DVDs should be used for everyday information storage, not large projects or files.
USBs (Universal Serial Buses) are one of the more efficient mediums to store and
transfer digital data. They are more durable than hard drives since they do not contain any
moving parts. This contributes to the fact that USBs are easy to carry around. Also known
as flash drives, they surpass many other storage devices due to the memory capacity and
transfer speeds it provides. Assuming that the global power grid failure doesn't hinder USB
development, USB 3.0 can offer its amazing transfer speed of 4.8 GB/sec (eBay, 2014). to
those utilizing it for many decades. Even the best quality memory cards and hard-disk
drives cannot match up to that speed. In terms of compatibility and popularity, the USB is
one of the more common ways to connect a device to any type of computer. Specifically,
netbooks, laptops, and desktop computers include multiple USB ports. It wouldn't be much
of a surprise either so see the smallest notebooks having at least 3 USB slots. Some USB
drives, ones that are a combination of memory card adapters and flash drives, can be used
to read memory cards for users whose devices lack slots specific to memory cards. Thus,
their compatibility is huge.
External hard drives are a moderately effective medium of backing up, storing, and
preserving digitalized information. Computers and laptops crash and die eventually, so
when it's time to get a new computer or equivalent, you can apply your settings,
documents, music, and pictures from the old computer to your new one. What sets the
external hard drive from the other mediums of data storage, is the immense storage
capacity it can hold. The storage capacity of external hard drives usually range from 2GB to
4TB with some companies putting, "...two 4TB drives in one chassis, creating an 8TB HDD."
(Real, 2012) External hard drives are also capable of acting as boot drives, as they can
make it possible to load a different operating system on your computer through the
external, such as Linux. Unfortunately, it's on the more expensive end of the digital
information storage mediums, starting at under $70 and can go upwards of $3,200. (Real,
2012) Even though the price could be an issue for those trying to recover from losses from
the catastrophe, the storage capacity is what makes external hard drives worth the
investment. Knowing that, it would provide future generations the maximum amount of
knowledge possible to preserve for future generations using the external hard drive.
Memory cards are another way to store digitized information. They're small storage
devices, capable of storing backups containing text, pictures, audio, and video. Apart from
older ones, newer models are lighter, smaller, and more compact with a higher storage
capacity; they can store up to 512GB in the form of SD cards. Memory cards are also highly
portable and compatible due to them being able to be used in small, lightweight, and low-
power devices, such as laptops, cameras, cell phones, and tablets. They also allow for more
immediate access by being able to fit in memory card slots in different devices and are
easily removable. Memory cards such as SD cards don't need much organization and thus
are easy to keep track of. Compared to other storage mediums, the price range for these
cards is fairly moderate, meaning it isn't too expensive, but higher priced than USBs. There
are a few disadvantages to them though. For instance, as with a lot of lightweight storage
devices, they can break easily. Memory cards can also get lost, misplaced, or even smashed.

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In addition, the cards are susceptible to electronic corruption, making the entire card
unreadable. The memory card would definitely be able to transcend the future from
generation to generation. The size factor of the card itself is a huge plus which contributes
to its versatility in so many devices that'll be still available long after the catastrophic
shutdown of the power grid.
Some of the methods and mediums of data storage can thrive in the future, while the
others probably woudn't. In terms of logistics, how the world-wide power grid shutdown
affects the development of the storage devices is important. The effectiveness of those
mediums in this case is dependent upon whether or not it's able to transcend generations
knowing the aftermath of the epidemic. With external hard drives, although the storage
capacity is the largest of the mediums, it's also the least affordable option. Thus, it wouldn't
be the most efficient medium to provide digitally stored information to future generations.
CDs and DVDs seem like methods of the past to store digital data. Sure it's extremely
affordable, but the storage space just isn't enough to pass on to the next generation. USB
storage on the other hand, seems to be the most effective and efficient medium of data
storage. It's affordable, has decent storage capacity, can also be used as a bootable drive.
Therefore, it would be the best device, along with memory cards for data storage and for
providing future generations with the knowledge they need to pass it on themselves. The
two characteristics the memory card has that make it qualify for the future are its small
size and decent storage capacity with moderate affordability. Writing the information
down is also a pretty effective method that will last. Although it's the old school way of
learning concepts, it's one of the more efficient ways to preserve stored information. The
only reason for it to not work is if the paper the information is written on gets lost or
damaged.
Wait... What about books?
There is one method of preserving information that hasn't been mentioned yet,
books. Books have been around for over several centuries, however with the advent of
technology advancing each day, a purchase of a physical book is rare to see. Books as a
form of media have quickly devolved into the primitive way of delivering content. As
technology has been developing over the years the use of e-books, search engines, and e-
discovery has steamrolled its place into the market. What used to take hours or even days
of searching in physical books can now be extracted in a matter of seconds. The speed is
not the only benefit, the entire content delivery model has scaled into a more economically
viable way to publish at faster rates. People can rent or purchase electronic media without
needing to actually print the text.
With the use of technology the publishing industry still has a lifeline. During the
innovation of search in the late 1990’s people quickly stopped purchasing books and used
online references instead. Once e-commerce was integrated into the Internet it allowed
companies to direct their sales onto websites instead of book stores. Sites like Amazon.com
are open 24/7 compared to stores like Barnes and Nobel that are only open from 7am-

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10pm. Technology has the ability to transform industries but the information itself has
changed very little. Delivery, affordability, and search is the future of books and print
media will see its way of the dinosaurs.
In the aftermath of the global power grid shutdown, technology won't be as robust
as it was before the event. Books will see a new light to shine again. People will take
advantage of the eBooks they have and read them all until they're bored of them. They will
have no choice but to revert back to books and spend more time with their family while
doing so. Perhaps books don't seem so useless. The fact remains: books have preserved
knowledge from generation to generation throughout the past, all that changed before the
catastrophe is that the Internet overshadowed it. Now that technology isn't as enduring as
it used to be, books can make their way next to USBs, memory cards, and writing
information down to make sure that the information can transcend the future from
generation to generation.
Conclusion
As the aftermath of the global power grid shut down ensues, so many different parts
of each country's infrastructure will take some time to recover. Money will have to be
salvaged, as with the remaining electronic devices since technological advancement is
halted. In the meantime, it's important that the information in the world transcends the
future so that the next generation learns that information and passes it on themselves. To
do this, reliable storage mediums will need to be able to hold onto that information
throughout decades without much development of them. Memory cards will be able to
provide future generations with information due to their lightweight versatility and
compatibility with a wide variety of devices. USB storage devices will definitely transcend
future generations because of their popularity, affordability, storage capacity, and
unrivaled transfer speeds. The oldest method of information preservation, writing the
information down on paper and passing it down is especially capable of providing the next
generation with that knowledge. Books saw better days long before the shutdown of the
world-wide power grid, but now they've been able to prevail. The reason for them being
able to shine in the light of society now is due to the power grid shutdown hindering
technological development. For over 2 decades, technology has held books behind. Now
that technology is behind, books are able to serve their purpose with more popularity.
Literature can now transcend future generations and provide them with the knowledge to
learn, relearn, backup and pass on the information.

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Works Cited
Borenstein, S. (2012, January 19). Online Piracy Debate Has People Asking: What Happens If Internet Goes Down?
Retrieved May 5, 2015, from TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/19/no-wikipedia-what-if-the-internet-went-
down_n_1215131.html
eBay. (2014, April 9). The Benefits of Using a USB Flash Drive. Retrieved May 28, 2015, from eBay:
http://www.ebay.com/gds/The-Benefits-of-Using-a-USB-Flash-Drive-/10000000177629636/g.html
Krawczyk, K. (2014, July 3). Google is easily the most popular search engine, but have you heard who’s in second?
Retrieved May 27, 2015, from Digital Trends: http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/google-baidu-are-
the-worlds-most-popular-search-engines/
Lunden, I. (2013, September 30). Digital Ads Will Be 22% Of All U.S. Ad Spend In 2013, Mobile Ads 3.7%; Total
Global Ad Spend In 2013 $503B. Retrieved May 28, 2015, from Tech Crunch:
http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/30/digital-ads-will-be-22-of-all-u-s-ad-spend-in-2013-mobile-ads-
3-7-total-gobal-ad-spend-in-2013-503b-says-zenithoptimedia/
Newzoo BV. (2014, May 15). Global Games Market Will Reach $102.9 Billion in 2017. Retrieved May 28, 2015,
from Newzoo: http://www.newzoo.com/insights/global-games-market-will-reach-102-9-billion-
2017-2/
Real, N. (2012, December 9). HOW TO BUY AN EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE. Retrieved May 28, 2015,
from Digital Trends: http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-buy-an-external-hard-drive/
SafeBACKUP Consult Ltd. (n.d.). CDs and DVDs for Data Storage? Retrieved May 28, 2015, from
databackuponlinestorage:
http://www.databackuponlinestorage.com/CD_and_DVD_for_Data_Storage
Strickland, J. (n.d.). What would happen if the Internet collapsed? Retrieved May 5, 2015, from HowStuffWorks:
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/internet-collapse2.htm
Wegner, D. M., & Ward, A. F. (2013, November 19). The Internet Has Become the External Hard Drive for Our
Memories. Retrieved May 26, 2015, from Scientific American:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-internet-has-become-the-external-hard-drive-for-
our-memories/?WT.mc_id=send-to-friend

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