[PRCo] Re: Deja vu all over again

[Fred Schneider]

Bob,  I'm laughing and agreeing, and now I'll tell you the rest of  
the story.

Three or four years ago the chap who owns the local camera store  
showed me a digital print taken by a new whiz bang digital  
professional camera.  Maybe it was five years, I can't be sure.  All  
I know is that it was the dawn of the professional era.  And it was  
reasonably (not critically) sharp at 8x10.  The customer wanted an  
aerial picture of his farm.  And the pro had taken it.  My comments  
were:  1)  the photographer took the picture and printed it and  
delivered it and had his money in his pocket all in the same morning  
and 2) this is the way the photo industry is going and you aren't  
going to be selling cameras and films a whole lot longer.

Matt has admitted this year that he is in trouble.  He cannot afford  
any longer to stock really high end film cameras but he can stock  
high end digital.  If I want 50 rolls of Kodachrome, I need to let  
him know a month ahead ... it is no longer stocked.  In spite of the  
school of art and design next door, papers are no longer stocked in  
huge quantities.  My prophesy held true.   I'm just not ready to go  
to digital yet.

On Sep 18, 2005, at 10:11 PM, Bob Rathke wrote:

> The recent discussion of film vs digital photography reminded me of  
> my 1960's-era friend Fred (not Fred Schneider who is another  
> friend).  !960's Fred was the type of person who had to be the  
> first to own the latest electronic gizmo.  Things like:
> - A color TV set with a round 19" screen, plus manual controls for  
> Tint and Hue (remember those erratic color control wheels?). Such a  
> TV set cost at least $1,000 in 1964, and the color was anything but  
> natural.
>
> - Later that decade, Fred bought into satellite TV broadcasts.  He  
> needed to order a small crane place a  3 meter (that's nearly 10  
> ft. in diameter) antenna on his roof.  Seen any dish antennas that  
> size recently?
>
> - Around 1970, he bought a simple 4-function TI calculator.  It was  
> bulky, couldn't fit in a pocket and cost $100.
>
> - In 1971, Fred proudly showed me his new digital wristwatch that  
> cost $300.  It had 1/8" red LED lights that showed the time.   
> Period.  I told him that it was neat, but that I would wait until  
> they gave away digital watches in cereal boxes.  You know what?  A  
> few years later, I got a free digital watch in a box of Cheerios!
>
> The point of all this?  Gee whiz technology is great, but we need  
> to give it time (albeit shorter and shorter) to evolve. Digital  
> photography is the future, but in 2005 it's not there yet.  Digital  
> camera capabilities will improve and costs will come down.  In the  
> meantime, chemical (film) cameras work just fine.
>
> Bob 9/18/05
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