Technical Obsolescence - Bryant McGill

# Technical Obsolescence **Entity class:** Concept or analytic term **Domain:** Infrastructure / Time / Continuity **Doc Type:** Canonical Risk Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition **Technical obsolescence** is the loss of practical usability caused by unsupported hardware, formats, interfaces, skills or institutional dependencies rather than destruction of the stored object itself. ## Evolutionary Nexus Semiconductor scaling and changing scientific instruments in [[articles/The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley|The Evolutionary Roots of Silicon Valley]] show that technical progress continually changes the receiving environment. ## Continuity Context A preserved archive can become unreachable when its interpreter disappears. Continuity therefore requires migration, emulation, documentation and the right to export before a custodian or platform abandons support. ## See Also [[wiki/Hot Interpreter and Cold Archive|Hot Interpreter and Cold Archive]], [[wiki/Continuity Stack|Continuity Stack]], [[wiki/Portability|Portability]], [[wiki/Moore's Law|Moore's Law]] ## Relationships  This entry is routed through [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]], [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]], and [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]]. Its source context is developed in [[articles/Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta|Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta]] and [[articles/Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer|Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer]]. Status-qualified source edges are preserved in the terminal Research Edges section. ### Connections in this corpus - [[wiki/QEMU versioned machine types|QEMU versioned machine types]] is connected in the corpus with **Technical Obsolescence**. ### Additional Documented Relationships - [[wiki/QEMU Live Migration|QEMU Live Migration]] is connected in the corpus with **Technical Obsolescence**.  ## Read First in the Wiki  - [[wiki/Executable Preservation|Executable Preservation]] — supplies the related concept or analytic term context needed to place **Technical Obsolescence** within the wider system. - [[wiki/Continuity Stack|Continuity Stack]] — supplies the related concept or analytic term context needed to place **Technical Obsolescence** within the wider system. - [[wiki/Hot Interpreter and Cold Archive|Hot Interpreter and Cold Archive]] — supplies the related concept or analytic term context needed to place **Technical Obsolescence** within the wider system.  ## Related Work in the Corpus  - In [[articles/Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta|Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta]], **XIV. Versioning becomes existential** provides the narrative context for **Technical Obsolescence**: This is why neural data provenance, content-addressed versioning, cryptographic identity, and re-entry pathways are not bureaucratic overhead.  ## Research Edges  #### Host–residual infrastructure patch — 2026-09-10 **Collections:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] · [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]] · [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] **Canonical source article:** [[articles/Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta|Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta]] **Related acquisition source:** [[articles/Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer|Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer]] **Relationship source:** [[research/Mind Uploading and AI Host-Residual Ecosystem Relationship Graph - 2026-09-10|Mind Uploading and AI Host-Residual Ecosystem Relationship Graph — 2026-09-10]] #### Host-infrastructure integration This entry is expanded through the concrete host-side relationships and status-qualified edges below. #### Outgoing typed edges - **HR-1128 — `wiki_links_to` → [[wiki/Continuity Stack|Continuity Stack]]** — **EXISTING WIKI EDGE**; evidence `WIKI_ARCHIVE`. Direct internal link currently present in `Technical Obsolescence.md`. - **HR-1129 — `wiki_links_to` → [[wiki/Hot Interpreter and Cold Archive|Hot Interpreter and Cold Archive]]** — **EXISTING WIKI EDGE**; evidence `WIKI_ARCHIVE`. Direct internal link currently present in `Technical Obsolescence.md`. #### Incoming typed edges - **HR-0647 — [[wiki/Executable Preservation|Executable Preservation]] `wiki_links_to` → this entry** — **EXISTING WIKI EDGE**; evidence `WIKI_ARCHIVE`. Direct internal link currently present in `Executable Preservation.md`. - **HR-1403 — [[wiki/QEMU Live Migration|QEMU versioned machine types]] `cross_threads` → this entry** — **HIGH VALUE CROSS THREAD**; evidence `ARTICLE`, `WIKI_ARCHIVE`. Backward-compatible machine definitions preserve migratability as runtime evolves.