Prices of MFDs (Multi-Function Devices = printer + fax + scanner + photocopier) have fallen to the point that they are affordable for the home. or you may choose to buy a dedicated scanner in addition to your printer (but that is a lot of desk to take up for two devices that could be rolled into one).

Check the number of dots per inch (dpi) that it scans at. Pay no attention to 'interpolated' dpi. This is when the software guesses values between pixels to create supposedly higher resolution images. Pay attention to the optical (actual) dpi.

You can't beat a paper book as an accessible record that people can browse. Never has this been easier to do.

BACK UP YOUR DATA. Hard drives hardly ever fail these days. So it will never happen to you, right? Please don't wait until you have had this heartbreaking experience before you start backing up your data (pictures, documents, video, recordings....). Please learn from the grief of others and back up regularly.

There are four challenges to deal with in preserving memories over time:

• Physical decay of the medium. Most digital storage media don't last as long as paper, or even photo film.
• Physical loss or damage of the medium. With each passing decade the chances of fire, flood, theft, or accidental loss increase.
• Future access to the medium. Those finding it need to have the right equipment and software to read it.
  

Once you have worked out a way to back up all your data, there is one more consideration.

just backing it up isn't enough. if something goes wrong somewhere you might be backing up bad data. maybe you save a word document over another one. You don't find the problem until after your backup, so now the bad data is in your backup and you have no way of going back to the good file.