In article , Peter Jason
wrote:

Do these thumb drives last forever, or should
their contents be transferred to the latest USB
drives?

nothing lasts forever, but the good ones should last a very long time.
unfortunately, some are not particularly good, possibly counterfeit.

Thansk, what are the good ones? What brand and
are there "military-grade" superlative ones?

https://www.techradar.com/news/best-usb-flash-drives

name brands are the safest, but you could get a lemon. noname brands
tend to be crap. be careful about counterfeits.

many usb 3 sticks are only slightly faster than usb 2, particularly the
cheaper ones. make sure it implements superspeed (and even then, speed
varies). as the saying goes, you get what you pay for.

if the data is important, have *multiple* copies in multiple places.