Adam Blatner

Words and Images from the Mind of Adam Blatner

Disruptive Technologies—Photographs?

Originally posted on September 7, 2017

My son David told me about "disruptive technologies”—automobiles disrupt horseback or horse-drawn travel; telegraphy disrupted handwritten letters somewhat, and in turn this was disrupted in turn by telephones, emails, cell phones. In the past knights wearing armor disrupted attacks by archers: The armor deflected arrows—at least crossbow arrows. Cannons disrupted walls, and armor.

As we go through boxes of photos I realized that all these are now done digitally—thousands of dollars spent over the years on developing! Now it’s all digital. Digital cameras disrupt photos. I realize that digital phographs are a technology that disrupts film cameras! it just now as I’ve been going over old photos. What to keep, what to send away to the relatives or friends, what to toss? But it’s all made easier in some ways—more difficult in others—by cameras being joined with phones. Result: a disruptive technology—which makes many photos are already digital.


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