Fading and loss of image quality has always been a problem with photographs. These losses are usually due to exposure to the sun or inadequate storage of negative, prints, and slides.
This problem has been all but eliminated with digital photography because the data is stored on a computer; the images never lose their quality, fidelity, or detail. The only way to damage digital images is to rewrite the data, delete the file, corrupt the file's data, or destroy the storage media completely.
Making backups and storing them away from the original source is still the best means of protecting these images and guarantees that the data can always be retrieved.
One concern of those who store digital data professionally, both archivists and historians, is the ever increasing technologies that render today's digital methods obsolete in only a short period of time. Imagine the concern that we are creating a void in which information is being held and will be lost during a decade or era, due to changes in technology that will make this media inaccessible.
Computers are advancing much faster than any of use realizes, and what can be accessed on today's computer may not be accessible on tomorrow's computers. Think back to the different programs on your first PC -- which cannot be accessed with the computer you have today -- and you will get an idea of the concerns they have.
But film will never completely disappear; it will remain available to the enthusiasts, and it will still be in use in the future. In the early 19th century, many felt that photography would take the place of paintings, both portraits and landscapes. However, this never happened.
It is important to remember, however, that there is quite a bit of difference between painting and film, with a small difference between film and digital photography. One solution would be to transfer your digital photographs each time you purchase new hardware; however, this may not be feasible if you take a great many photographs.