Decoding the past

 I received my little device for scanning 35MM slides and have begun that process. It works quite well and as advertised simple enough for a senior to operate. I did laugh at that bit of advertising feeling I was slighted just a bit. That's usually my first reaction when offended, a derisive laugh. After having scanned a number of those slides and transferring them to my desktop computer, yes I still use a desktop, my wife uses a laptop, I began thinking about what to do with them. I have in mind to create a slideshow with them, a sort or remembrance of Uncle George, the man that took the pictures. But more than that, a remembrance of all the people in those photos as well. I have discovered some that have labels on them identifying the people, but many do not. As a result, they are faces lost to time, at least as far as I know. A precious few my wife can identify. Thing is these photos were taken forty years ago or more. The small children in those photos are seniors now! Still, I have in mind a slide show that I could share with family members. So, to the internet I go for advice and whatever equipment/devices I may require. To my surprise I discovered that no one uses DVD's anymore. I have "burned" those in the past and have them in a container. I confess I haven't tried looking at them in a while.

 The internet informed me that I could record my slideshow to an SD card. Hey, I know what they are. Don't get too excited though I said to myself as I read on. Turns out not all SD cards are the same. I would require a specific type and a specific format. The choices, I was told, are numerous. The predominant thing today is simply streaming your creations. They are stored somewhere in the clouds and appear by magic and money. I kept searching for the one that is so easy a senior can do it! I found a couple that makes that promise. I have a lot more reading to do on the subject. All is not as easy as one would think.

 It isn't the first time I have encountered this problem. It's the issue of media. Sure, was easy when we simply wrote the words down and drew some pictures to go along with it. The first portable media. Of course, even then there was the problem of others being able to read what you had written. Think of the hieroglyphics and other ancient writing. Think of Chinese today, if you aren't Chinese, you probably can't make head nor tail out of that! Fortunately, we have computers that will translate all of that. The issue lies in operating the computer. Compatibility is of primary concern. The issue is in the playback. That's what I'm trying to establish. I want to record this slideshow in or on a device that most people can playback. According to the internet only about 1/3 of all households today would have a DVD player. So my question was, what do people use? The answer was, a streaming service for the most part. You can record it to a SD card as long as you use the proper format. Not an easy thing for a senior to grasp. Personally, I hate it when I have a piece of media and am unable to play it. I have had that happen a number of times, where the computer asks, do you want to look for a program to open this media? I'm just a big fan of plug and play. 

 Well, I guess this is all progress. When I was small the advertisement would be, even a child can do it. Now, it's so easy a senior can do it. We sure have made a lot of progress, haven't we? We have one button we can push when we fall and can't get up but a myriad of buttons to watch the television. They still haven't made a remote so easy a senior can use it! And yes, seniors still watch television. The reason for that? Just selecting the proper input for your "monitor" what we call a tv, can be a baffling experience. HDMI, DVI, Display port and the antique VGA only used when everything else isn't available. I'm still looking for the two little screws you attach the antenna too! Yeah, that's progress. 

 I'm undaunted however, I will continue with this project. I'll figure something out eventually. The real difficult lies in finding someone that can explain it to you. Someone that isn't trying to sell you something I mean. But finding a method that people will still be using ten years from now? Well, that's a problem that can't be solved. Are we going to keep making progress to the point where we can't read our own writing? Where we will need a computer to find the program to decipher what was recorded? It took the Rosetta stone for us to decipher what the Egyptians had written. What will be the Rosetta stone in the future? Will it be an old desktop computer discovered in grandpa's attic? Can anyone still use DOS? I wonder about that sometimes. Computers aren't worth a damn if you can't figure out how to use them. I know, been faced with that problem a few times myself. "You need permission from the administrator to perform this function" and I answer, I am the administrator!! "Forgot your password" The computer just laughs, I hear the same derisive laugh I use, followed by, too bad access denied. 

 On second thought maybe I should simply print the pictures and write what I want to go along with them. At least future generations will be able to access that, well as long as I don't write it in cursive and am careful about the use of pronouns. Probably would have to include a "definition of terms" so as not to confuse or offend someone. A disclaimer that states this is what I wrote, this is what it means. An explanation that at this time there were only two genders and Moms were always females, and Dads were always males, and you couldn't marry your pets. 

 Decoding the past isn't always as easy as you might think. Things aren't always what they seem to be or what you are seeing. Recording the past has always been the challenge. Recovering the past is even more difficult. On those slides there are faces without names, but they were all people of importance. I have in mind preserving them for future generations and a method that those future generations will be able to do so. Something so easy even a child or a senior can do it! Now that, that will be progress.