I mildly harassed a friend about his data backup issues he consulted me on. He's a scientist one who of course is detail-oriented, is bit of a jackass and has accumulated lots of important data.
I tell him:
---
Oh the pains of data management. I suggest you print all your data onto paper and store it in a safe!
---
He replies:
---
Let's see here...
80x60 characters per side, duplexed is ~10 kbytes per sheet for ASCII translation... So 500GB is only ~52 million sheets of paper, or just shy of 105,000 standard 500 sheet bundles. At ~3cm tall per bundle, that's a stack over 3km high. Of course, properly stacked, that would fit nicely in a decent sized moving truck...
---
Dude. I was joking.