87% Missing: the Disappearance of Classic Video Games | Video Game History Foundation

I think most media made in the 1990s and later have fallen into this capitalist black hole of culture.

Our governments have given corporations total control over who is allowed to access what media, and these companies have 100% incentive profit from artificial scarcity over that tiny span of time when people have interest in buying it, while having 0% incentive to preserve that media in archives meant to survive centuries or even mere decades. Most TV shows, film, music, even photos, and especially video games, that were created during our lifetimes will also disappear forever during our lifetimes. It is kind of an unprecedented situation. Never in history has such a large and productive society left behind so little of our culture for future historians to discover about us. Basically we are leaving behind our garbage and pollution, and no sign of our art or culture.

Every so often I hear a news story about some guy discovering a box of old records in his basement for music that had previously been thought lost to history. Every time I hear about that, I have to wonder what, if anything, will the future humans discover about us now that it is all digital and streaming on demand?