No more Polaroid film. Do you like Polaroids

[Spot's Meow]

My grandma will be so disappointed. She only uses Polaroids. She won't go near digital cameras. Doesn't even own a computer...got one for free then gave it away after half an hour because she couldn't figure out how to use the mouse.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

It's been suggested that in centuries' time this time will be looked at as a "dark ages" because there'll be little remaining evidence depicting events of this time.

I doubt it.

The photos you've taken are recorded and kept in digital form. But that file format will not always be supported. Some day, way down the road in the future, every computer will look at a file with the extension "jpg" and not know what to do with it.

No, they won't. JPG is a universal format. Every computer, every program in use today can read it. I don't see that changing anytime soon.

And I disagree that my pictures, as they are, will someday be unreadable. I use iPhoto, an application made by Apple. I will use it until Apple stops making it. And when they do, they will make something else to replace it. This new, as-yet-unnamed application will be backwards compatible, you can bet the house on that. Even if the new app can't *directly* read my old library, I will be able to export that library into a format that can be read.

Someday, way down the future, you'll be long dead meaning every photo you've taken in digital form will be lost.

Yes, I will be dead. So what do I care about what happens to my pictures?

And don't tell me that printed photos can't degrade. I know they can - I've seen it. They can degrade, be lost, stolen, damaged, etc. Much harder for that to happen to a digital library, at least one that's properly backed up.

The simple fact is that digital photos are easier to use. They're easier to take, look at, edit, send to others, use in other documents, back up, everything. They are the *future*.

 

[RJDiogenes]

It's kind of sad. I have a nostalgic fondness for Polaroids-- not to mention a collection of them from my childhood. I have a Polaroid that I took of my TV screen showing Neil Armstrong stepping onto the Moon.

The end of the Polaroid film? Surely a Kodak moment.

Damn!

 

[Philo]

It's kind of sad. I have a nostalgic fondness for Polaroids-- not to mention a collection of them from my childhood. I have a Polaroid that I took of my TV screen showing Neil Armstrong stepping onto the Moon.

You should scan that! I would love to see it.

 

[Colonel Green]

Longevity? As long as I keep my iPhoto Library backed up, that's all the longevity I need. With regular backups, longevity for digital pictures is pretty much forever.

It's been suggested that in centuries' time this time will be looked at as a "dark ages" because there'll be little remaining evidence depicting events of this time.

The photos you've taken are recorded and kept in digital form. But that file format will not always be supported. Some day, way down the road in the furture, every computer will look at a file with the extension "jpg" and not know what to do with it.

Someday, way down the future, you'll be long dead meaning every photo you've taken in digital form will be lost. You've kept it stored on hard drives which degrade and crash and don't last forever, on CDs -a format that won't always be supported, on a flash-drive another format that won't be supported, you have your photos on an iWhatever -a program that won't always be supported.

This is a pretty big problem. And even if you printed out those pictures that ink-on-paper won't last forever. Infact, it's pretty unlikely it'll even last your lifetime.

Taking a real picture on film and getting it developed produces a picture that is permanent. A picture that is formed on the paper using chemicals that etch the photo into the photographic paper. Permanently. Now, sure, even that can degrade or become ruined if not treated or cared for properly, but ink on paper is much more vulnerable and even fades.

It's not a permanent form of photography and that disturbs me. Future generations are going to wonder what life was like in this time and they're not going to know because all of our photography either degraded over time because of its poor medium or pictures are locked up file formats/mediums they can't access.

Nothing beats a good, old fashioned, photograph. Which Polaroids have over digital photography. It's more permanent.

I print out the photos I like onto good paper and frame them. Sure, they fade, but so do old photos if not carefully preserved

 

[Philo]

Trekker's being a bit of a crambazzle, but he does have a point when it comes to preserving and protecting the past for the future.

 

[Trekker4747]

Trekker's being a bit of a crambazzle....

Ooooooo.

I just found a new user title!

 

[RJDiogenes]

It's kind of sad. I have a nostalgic fondness for Polaroids-- not to mention a collection of them from my childhood. I have a Polaroid that I took of my TV screen showing Neil Armstrong stepping onto the Moon.

You should scan that! I would love to see it.

It might be packed away, but I'll see if I can find it.

 

[Philo]

Ooooooo. I just found a new user title!

It might be packed away, but I'll see if I can find it.

Awesome!

 

[RJDiogenes]

^^ Shockingly, I found it within about five minutes. I'll probably have time to do a scan today....

 

[Hoser]

I had a little Polaroid once. I took all the pictures in the roll, then realized that the film was almost as much as the camera, and gave it away.

I have the same problem with printers and razors.

 

[TheSeeker]

I print out the photos I like onto good paper and frame them. Sure, they fade, but so do old photos if not carefully preserved

Exactly. This photo of me is just over 30 years old and has clearly deteriorated already.

I had to do some work in PhotoShop so I could use it in a slide show at my wedding:

 

[jkladis]

70s green kitchens, how I miss thee.

Can even see the classic primer undercoat border technique on the dishwasher door. Nice cleanup.

 

[Sledder]

Longevity? As long as I keep my iPhoto Library backed up, that's all the longevity I need. With regular backups, longevity for digital pictures is pretty much forever.

It's been suggested that in centuries' time this time will be looked at as a "dark ages" because there'll be little remaining evidence depicting events of this time.

The photos you've taken are recorded and kept in digital form. But that file format will not always be supported. Some day, way down the road in the furture, every computer will look at a file with the extension "jpg" and not know what to do with it.

Someday, way down the future, you'll be long dead meaning every photo you've taken in digital form will be lost. You've kept it stored on hard drives which degrade and crash and don't last forever, on CDs -a format that won't always be supported, on a flash-drive another format that won't be supported, you have your photos on an iWhatever -a program that won't always be supported.

This is a pretty big problem. And even if you printed out those pictures that ink-on-paper won't last forever. Infact, it's pretty unlikely it'll even last your lifetime.

Taking a real picture on film and getting it developed produces a picture that is permanent. A picture that is formed on the paper using chemicals that etch the photo into the photographic paper. Permanently. Now, sure, even that can degrade or become ruined if not treated or cared for properly, but ink on paper is much more vulnerable and even fades.

It's not a permanent form of photography and that disturbs me. Future generations are going to wonder what life was like in this time and they're not going to know because all of our photography either degraded over time because of its poor medium or pictures are locked up file formats/mediums they can't access.

Nothing beats a good, old fashioned, photograph. Which Polaroids have over digital photography. It's more permanent.

I imagine it will be the opposite effect. The reason photo's were lost in the past was because people inherited these big boxes of pictures or photo albums and didn't want to keep them. Now it will be a folder of pictures that won't take up any space and you can keep forever.

Formats won't be a problem, any significant change in format will go along with an easy conversion method. No way that the billions of photo's people have will simply be lost when a new format comes along.

 

[CaptainStoner]

Nothing beats a good, old fashioned, photograph. Which Polaroids have over digital photography. It's more permanent.

Well, there's also oil painting. Now that's old-school.

A good digital camera is an awesome tool. My only beef with them is, you have to get into some high $$$ to approach the kind of lens quality that my inherited Canon A1 has. Not to mention the dizzying array of exposure options, multiple exposure, etc. I just put in on auto for the most part.

I'm more interested in a digital camcorder, because that is one area where the fidelity blows away the previous generation. When I go digital it will be for video + still.

 

[RJDiogenes]

That's one small step for a man, one lousy picture for an 8-year-old:

(Slightly enhanced in Photoshop-- those are spots on the picture, not the Star Trek Warp Speed effect ).

 

[Trippy]

^That is wicked cool!

 

[RJDiogenes]

Thank you. It's a very fond memory, believe me.

 

[Trekker4747]

Thank you. It's a very fond memory, believe me.

That is real cool, man. Like it should be in a museum or a book or something.

 

[TGTheodore]

I loved having a Polaroid Big Swinger back in the early 70's. And the regular Swinger was a very cool camera as well.

--Ted