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Digital photographs and archeology. Will current technology pass the test of time?

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Richard Weisser Realty

 

Technologies that withstand the test of time!If there is one thing that has always troubled me about digital photography, it is that most of the trillions of virtual images in existence today are fettered by the electronic shackles of contemporary computer code.

And since technology changes faster than an unleashed puppy runs, it will only be a fewas years before many digital formats and protocols are abandoned, and the photographs associated with them will be orphaned.

Photographs that were meticulously fixed to glass plates over 150 years ago survive to this day as real images, needing no more interpretation than average eyesight and cognitive thought processes.

But most collections of today will be relegated to the historical dust bin, and will rest unopened and unnoticed, perhaps gone forever.

I feel that our reliance on current technological processes, while great for the short term will not stand the test of time.

And that makes me sad. Because it is the chronicle of our lives that will be lost!

 

Fernando Herboso - Associate Broker MD, & VA
Maxus Realty Group of Samson Properties - Clarksburg, MD
301-246-0001 Serving Maryland, DC and Northern VA

Richard. . .If I was in a bar with you. . 

and you tell me that. .

I'll buy you a beer and tell you. . 

"Richard, don't worry about it. . salud!"

 

Happy 4th!

Jul 01, 2010 12:51 AM
Andrew Mooers | 207.532.6573
MOOERS REALTY - Houlton, ME
Northern Maine Real Estate-Aroostook County Broker

Don't fret Richard. The "look" of old rust tint, sepia western images make them authentic, real period capture on the technology available at the time. If you saw Abe Lincoln on the back of a campaign train shot at 12 megapixel, run thru a photo software program with that telegraph pole erased, replaced with a smiling flag waving voter...well, the clear as a bell, full color image would not pull at the heart the same way. We have to work with the crayon box we have at the time. How creative we are makes that photo, video last, work harder, reach further.

Jul 01, 2010 12:52 AM
Richard Weeks
Dallas, TX
REALTOR®, Broker

Richard,

Very well said.

I once had a professional photographer in a MCE class who felt one big problem with digital was that it was as quick to delete a picture as it was to take the picture.  He felt much of our history which would have been captured will now be lost.

Jul 01, 2010 12:54 AM
Barbara Todaro
RE/MAX Executive Realty - Happily Retired - Franklin, MA
Previously Affiliated with The Todaro Team

Richard.....I second everything that Andy just said....mainly because I couldn't repeat all of that if I had to....It's only for Andy to do!!

Jul 01, 2010 01:00 AM
Richard Iarossi
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage - Crofton, MD
Crofton MD Real Estate, Annapolis MD Real Estate

Richard,

When they start messing with my 8 track tapes somebody is going to get hurt :) No storage technology is safe from the dustbin.

Rich

Jul 01, 2010 01:06 AM
Bill Travis
Captain Bill Realty, LLC - Gilbert, AZ
Broker/Owner

Just as we kept the old photographs, the negatives and the slides, we need to maintain the important digital photos on devices that will be around for awhile, such as DVD disks, etc

Jul 01, 2010 01:08 AM
Bill Saunders, Realtor®
Meyers Realty - Hot Springs, AR
www.BillSellsHotSprings.com

Hello Richard,

Your post reminds me of an ad I saw once, years ago. I believe it was about security of your information. It showed a stone tablet, the Declaration of Independence and a large floppy disc (the original true "floppy") and then a stack of computer cards. Sure mad ya think.

all the best...

Jul 01, 2010 01:13 AM
Dorie Dillard Austin TX
Coldwell Banker Realty ~ 512.750.6899 - Austin, TX
NW Austin ~ Canyon Creek and Spicewood/Balcones

Good morning Richard,

I'm going to defer to Andy like Barbara did..Andy said it best!

Jul 01, 2010 01:18 AM
Gabe Sanders
Real Estate of Florida specializing in Martin County Residential Homes, Condos and Land Sales - Stuart, FL
Stuart Florida Real Estate

Richard, as new technology emerges, they normally make conversions that allow older technology to be imported/updated.  I believe this will be true for images.  If you ever get a chance, check out the Smithsonian web site and see what they're doing to digitally preserve American history.

Jul 01, 2010 01:28 AM
Matt Stigliano
Kimberly Howell Properties (210) 646-HOME - San Antonio, TX

Brother Richard - I know what you mean, even though I'm about as digital as they come.  There's something to be said for an old faded photo with tattered corners or a box of discolored family Polaroid snaps.  Eventually, the old hard drives will die and unless the users keep moving the files from one to another, somewhere pieces of history will go missing.  I think we'll adapt as time moves on and learn to preserve these photos, much like photo album makers learned that acid-free paper was important to the longevity of the memories of their customers.

Jul 01, 2010 01:38 AM
Gerry Michaels
Glasswork Media Arts - Gettysburg, PA
GettysburgGerry Social Meida

Richard, what a thought provoking post, I never thought about it but you are absolutley right...interesting, I will be thinking about this all day...thanks...I think

Jul 01, 2010 01:56 AM
Alan May
Jameson Sotheby's International Realty - Evanston, IL
Home is where the hearth is.

I've thought about this too.  I'll go you one step farther.

With film-cameras, even the photos that you didn't use, are kept.  When Bill Clinton started denying knowing the Monica girl, photo-journalists went back through their old photos and found some photos of Bill, working the crowd, and one in which he was "hugging" Monica Lewinsky.

This was a photo that hadn't been chosen by an editor, and if it had been digital would surely have been deleted.  It was only found, because it was on film, and couldn't be deleted.  What other "treasures" or "finds" are we losing in today's digital age, because the Disc was becoming full, and you needed more space?  Hmmm?

Jul 01, 2010 02:29 AM
Sussie Sutton
David Tracy Real Estate - Houston, TX
David Tracy Real Estate for Buyers & Sellers

Richard Iarossi - You are so funny! I finally got rid of all my 8-track tapes....cassettes were the next to go now I have CD's to content with....I fear those will go soon too!  But still hanging on to my RECORDS 45'S AND 33'S..... WHOOT!

Coming to you from Texas...

Jul 01, 2010 02:51 AM
Lori Churchill Cofer
Beasley Realty - Pullman, WA
Realtor - 509-330-0086 - Pullman, WA

Richard,

Gosh...I really hadn't thought of that.  I am the last in the line of my family....I inherited all these pictures from my Great Grandfather who was a photographer by trade.  I loved peering into the faces of history...

Jul 01, 2010 03:07 AM
Craig Rutman
Helping people in transition - Cary, NC
Raleigh, Cary, Apex area Realtor

Not too long ago I digitized a bunch of old family photos in the hopes that they'll last longer than they would had I not done it. But technology changes so fast, they might just need to be transferrd to whatever medium comes along.......

Jul 01, 2010 03:22 AM
Charles Buell
Charles Buell Inspections Inc. - Seattle, WA
Seattle Home Inspector

Richard every technology will require its own special type of archeology in the future----always has and always will most likely.  Can you imagine in a thousand years when someone finds some old "jump-drive" and figures out what is on it?

Jul 01, 2010 03:45 AM
Chris Ann Cleland
Long and Foster Real Estate - Gainesville, VA
Associate Broker, Bristow, VA

This is a troubling thought for sure.  I never quite thought about it in these terms, but you are hitting the nail on the head. 

Jul 01, 2010 04:14 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

I am a scrapbooker Richard.  When I get home I take my little card down to the local walmart and poke it in that machine and make prints... I even make prints of the bad ones... why?

Well as I go through my parents albums there is usually a story with those photos of heads chopped off, not quite in focus, dog running though shot... and I love those stories... so those shots that aren't even close to what I really wanted they usually make it in there too.  I've always been a visual person and I love albums and scrapbooks.  So mine won't be lost ... they are history.

Jul 01, 2010 07:55 AM
Tammie White, Broker
Franklin Homes Realty LLC - Franklin, TN
Franklin TN Homes for Sale

Wow Richard never thought of it that way.  That makes me sad too.

Jul 01, 2010 08:32 AM
William Feela
WHISPERING PINES REALTY - North Branch, MN
Realtor, Whispering Pines Realty 651-674-5999 No.
I can see something new on the horizon. But technolgy will allow the coversion. The real question is what happens when the electricity is in short supply
Jul 01, 2010 09:11 AM