Picture the future?

Question

Has anyone thought as we are all using mostly digital cameras,that there won't be anything left of our images of our families in say 100 years time.My reasoning to this is digital cameras use a magnetic medium and not film,to record.Objects will loose their magnetisum over time,so unless things are continually backed up ( every 5 years say? ),that we'll loose those precious pictures we were so proud of taking?

Answer 1

You have to print anything you want your grandchildren to see. Print with a dye-based printer on archival paper and then put them in a sealed box and never look at them again. Put a sheet of plain paper between each print.

You are right about the false sense of security derived from thinking our photos are "safely backed up" or "permanently" burned to CD. Who knows what medium they will be using ten years from now, let alone 100 years from now? Nobody. This is why backing them up or re-burning every 5 years will probably fail as a means of archiving pictures.

I think the best we can do is make prints and store them safely and hope that anyone who cares will scan them and re-print them so they last another 50 or 100 years.

Isn't it ironic that we are at risk of losing so much information that was created in the information age? Cavemen with chisels made of rocks "stored" more permanent images than we are saving today.

Answer 2

You are correct - the very long term storage and recovery of our photos is a challenge. However, digital imaging really doesn't make the problem worse, and may improve things.

In the first 150 years of photography, people only saved prints. And most of those got lost or damaged. With optical storage media (CD and DVD today) we can protect them much better. Of course, someone would have to keep moving them to evolving media over the decades.

Sorry, but after 3 or 4 generations people don't have a whole lot of interest for a large quantity of images of people they don't know, even family.

As a retiree, I have been scanning old family photos to preserve them better than the prints are lasting. But I find people are only interested in seeing a few pics of people long passed away. The huge quantity of pics we take today will probably be hugely boring in 100 years.

Still I think it is worth trying to preserve "the best of the best". So my recommendation is:

. Use media that is the best we have today - CD/DVD or archival prints. Get good advice on which media to use.

. Make double copies, stored in different locations.

. Don't try and save everything.

. Set up and document a long term storage update strategy.

. Identify and recruit a younger person to take over for you after you are gone. Get their agreement to continue the process.

Good Luck

Answer 3

Hi, I recommand you to try google picasa.

picasa is a Google's photo software. It's what should've come with your camera.

It can Edit , organise and Share you picture and small video flips.

It's very easy to use and is free, just like Google

Download it free in here:

http://www.adcenter.net.cn/google-picasa/

Good Luck!

Answer 4

ave Your Photos And A Cd So They Will Stay Forever hmmmmmmmmmm

Thats What I Do