I was rummaging through the closet in search of some old documents when I found new technology. Well, new tech that is already old. Some time back, I don't recall the year, I had purchased one of those digital picture frames. That's the way they were advertised. You just insert an sd card or some usb device like a flash drive and away it goes. I do remember being impressed with that and thinking what a great thing it was. I was excited when I rediscovered that. I have taken it out and plugged it back in with the old pictures running on a constant loop. It is like having someone turning the pages on your photo album. It's a distraction, but now I'm reminded of how it wound up in the closet in the first place. I had grown bored with it. Now I'm thinking it is similar to other digital media, like text, I would prefer to hold the album, turn the pages myself, just as I prefer to hold an actual book in my hands. Watching the frame, the pictures seem to be less personal. Perhaps that is because I get the feeling that just anyone could view them, without explanation.
It is something I talk about frequently, old pictures and memories. Old photographs do lose their meaning without an explanation. Yes you can admire them for their beauty, perhaps you recognize the location. you may even have the names of the subjects, but without context the story is lost. It is that context that so interests me. It is also true that not every picture has a story, some are just the " fill " in life. The thing is I want to preserve everything. The " fill " is often a personal memory. You can't have my memory, even if I do wish to share it, it is still mine. I'm the only one that can add the context to the picture. The best you can do is say, this is what I was told. We all know how that works out, the story is altered a little at a time.
I'm thinking all this electronic media is making us less social. Consider how many people sit in groups now, staring at their phones, oblivious to those around them. This even happen in groups of friends! I remember when I was young and with my group of friends we constantly interacted with one another. Even on those rare occasions when we watched television, we were speaking to each other. That's also the reason we were shushed at the movies, in church and other venues were silence was golden. Today the message is, turn off your cell phones! The disturbance isn't going to be local, it will be from an outside source. The irony in this isn't lost on me. Here I sit writing on a computer, posting to the world wide web, any stranger can read this, and to social media where acquaintances, friends, and family can also read about how impersonal writing on digital media is. What I'm saying is, wouldn't it be far more personal if I were mailing each of you a letter? Now there's something that is becoming scarce, hand written letters. At best we may get those Christmas letters, although I think that fad is losing some of its' appeal. Even greeting cards on on the decline. I wonder if anyone does postcards anymore? We used to say, keep those cards and letters coming, now it's e-mail, snapchat, tik-toc or some such thing.
Another ironic thing I have noticed is the faster we can communicate with one another, the faster anomonisty develops. If you doubt that, spend a few hours on Facebook. Anomonisty and anonymity are most certainly bedfellows. The things people type to one another they surely would say to each other face to face! There is a reason they call it being social you know? I also believe we all need to practice being social with one another, something that my generation definitely grew up doing. Hmm, now we are being told to practice social distancing! Yes, I know it is for our own safety, our own well being, but it strikes me as just another ironic situation. Considering the current climate in society today, being distant isn't going to improve any of that! Remember what we practice today becomes tomorrows habits.
Well I guess I wandered off topic a bit but that's how my mind works. I started out by looking at that new technology that I had relegated to the closet. Then having dragged it out and plugged it in, I remembered why. It wasn't a conscious decision on my part, it was just a subtle inclination. I drifted toward the more personal ways. I like to hold the pictures in my hands, turn the pages and tell the stories. And even the largest album gets boring after it has run for a few months! I'll enjoy it for a while again and it'll go back into hiding. My wife was gifted a slide projector and a number of slides from her Uncle George's estate. We have looked at a number of them and many are unknown. I expect it will be the same with this digital picture frame one day, whatever digital media is left to go with it as well. Things really don't change all that much after all, only the technology changes, not the sentiment.
It is something I talk about frequently, old pictures and memories. Old photographs do lose their meaning without an explanation. Yes you can admire them for their beauty, perhaps you recognize the location. you may even have the names of the subjects, but without context the story is lost. It is that context that so interests me. It is also true that not every picture has a story, some are just the " fill " in life. The thing is I want to preserve everything. The " fill " is often a personal memory. You can't have my memory, even if I do wish to share it, it is still mine. I'm the only one that can add the context to the picture. The best you can do is say, this is what I was told. We all know how that works out, the story is altered a little at a time.
I'm thinking all this electronic media is making us less social. Consider how many people sit in groups now, staring at their phones, oblivious to those around them. This even happen in groups of friends! I remember when I was young and with my group of friends we constantly interacted with one another. Even on those rare occasions when we watched television, we were speaking to each other. That's also the reason we were shushed at the movies, in church and other venues were silence was golden. Today the message is, turn off your cell phones! The disturbance isn't going to be local, it will be from an outside source. The irony in this isn't lost on me. Here I sit writing on a computer, posting to the world wide web, any stranger can read this, and to social media where acquaintances, friends, and family can also read about how impersonal writing on digital media is. What I'm saying is, wouldn't it be far more personal if I were mailing each of you a letter? Now there's something that is becoming scarce, hand written letters. At best we may get those Christmas letters, although I think that fad is losing some of its' appeal. Even greeting cards on on the decline. I wonder if anyone does postcards anymore? We used to say, keep those cards and letters coming, now it's e-mail, snapchat, tik-toc or some such thing.
Another ironic thing I have noticed is the faster we can communicate with one another, the faster anomonisty develops. If you doubt that, spend a few hours on Facebook. Anomonisty and anonymity are most certainly bedfellows. The things people type to one another they surely would say to each other face to face! There is a reason they call it being social you know? I also believe we all need to practice being social with one another, something that my generation definitely grew up doing. Hmm, now we are being told to practice social distancing! Yes, I know it is for our own safety, our own well being, but it strikes me as just another ironic situation. Considering the current climate in society today, being distant isn't going to improve any of that! Remember what we practice today becomes tomorrows habits.
Well I guess I wandered off topic a bit but that's how my mind works. I started out by looking at that new technology that I had relegated to the closet. Then having dragged it out and plugged it in, I remembered why. It wasn't a conscious decision on my part, it was just a subtle inclination. I drifted toward the more personal ways. I like to hold the pictures in my hands, turn the pages and tell the stories. And even the largest album gets boring after it has run for a few months! I'll enjoy it for a while again and it'll go back into hiding. My wife was gifted a slide projector and a number of slides from her Uncle George's estate. We have looked at a number of them and many are unknown. I expect it will be the same with this digital picture frame one day, whatever digital media is left to go with it as well. Things really don't change all that much after all, only the technology changes, not the sentiment.
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