How far into the future could we hope to create something that remains readable?<p>How big would the printout be?<p>What materials could it be printed on to maximize the time it would be preserved for? Presumably paper wouldn’t last long enough.<p>How could it be stored?
I think magnetic tape is the current standard for long term digital storage. But it sounds like you’re talking about creating a hard copy, in which case the harder the object usually the longer it will last: rock, metal, hardened clay. But those mediums would hardly be reasonable given how much content is in the English Wikipedia
Save it as a TXT on an MDisk (mdisc.com) and put it under something large and heavy, a la: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Guidestones" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Guidestones</a>
Acid-free paper lasts a long time. If you want it to last longer, you could try vellum.<p>Centuries would be achievable, and after a few hundred years you could probably just reprint it on whatever technology they have.<p><a href="http://carlos.bueno.org/2010/09/paper-internet.html" rel="nofollow">http://carlos.bueno.org/2010/09/paper-internet.html</a><p><a href="https://diff.wikimedia.org/2015/06/19/meet-print-wikipedia/" rel="nofollow">https://diff.wikimedia.org/2015/06/19/meet-print-wikipedia/</a><p><a href="https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Wikipedia-Taschenbuchreihe-geplant-155514.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Wikipedia-Taschenbuc...</a><p><a href="https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Deutschsprachige-Wikipedia-wird-gedruckt-80-000-Seiten-freies-Wissen-169696.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Deutschsprachige-Wik...</a>